§ 

| 

B 

| 

i! 

I 
j 

i 



* » * 

OUTLINE STUDIES 



•IN- 



GENESIS 



BT 



| 

I 
| 

§ 

i 



I^ev, J. g. Hussel,- p. IQ, 



I 
| 
| 
i 

i 



<©o ^Tly QSifV 




Entered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1896, 

By J S. Russel, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D C. 



OUTLilNE STUDIES 



-IN- 



GENESIS 



BY 



^ 



Hev. J. S. flussel, fi. ]W. 



To understand the specific use of each book is like hav- 
ing a guide book in the exploration of a country. Such 
knowledge is the key to open closed doors and often 
makes all commentaries needless. — Bishop Percy. 

111! 18 1*96 JP 



HOPE VALLEY, R. I.: 
Free Press Book Print. 

181X5. 



. rfU* 



3^ 



-bS 



^ 



INTRODUCTORY. 



AIM OF THESE STUDIES. 

An examination of the scriptures reveals a vi- 
tal connection between religion and history. 

Oar aim is to first note the Historical Truths 
of Genesis, these form the framework of the 
Book. 

Secondly, to note the Supreme Religious 
Truths, these form the soul of the Book, for 
which the historical portions exist. 

Thus Genesis placed before the reader in its 
Historical setting and prime Religious teachings 
we trust may become clearer and dearer to the 
Bible lover. 



c 



3- 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 



'Genesis" means origination; Genesis is the 
.book of Origins or Beginnings. The beginning 
of man, the beginning of human sinning, the be- 
ginning of redemption, the beginning of the 
Hebrew Race. 

''Genesis is the stately portal to the magnifi- 
cent edifice of scripture." 

In Genesis you find the germ of the other 65 
books of the Bible A knowledge of Genesis is 
essential to any clear understanding of the script- 
ures. 

Says Luther, ''There is nothing more beauti- 
ful than the Book of Genesis, nothing more use- 
ful." 

The Book of Genesis falls naturally into two 
parts. Part I, Chapters 1 11. Part II, Chapters 
12-50. Part I, speaks of the history of the world 
from creation to the confusion of the tongues. 
Part II speaks of Abraham and his family to the 
death of his great grandson Joseph. 



The Burden of Scripture. 

The Old and New Testament are one. They have one 
aim; they treat of one revelation; they disclose one way 
of salvation. The Old Testament must be read in the 
light of the New, and the New Testament cannot be un- 
derstood except in the light of the 0.1d. As our Lord 
said, the Old Testament testifies of him all the way 
th rough . — Crosby. 

Him evermore I behold 

Walking in Galilee. 

Through the cornfield's waving gold 

In hamlet or grassy wold, 

By the shores of the Beautiful Sea. 

He toucheth the sightless eyes; 

Before Him the demons flee; 

To the dead he sayeth: Arise! 

To the living: Follow me! 

And that voice still soundeth on 

From the centuries that are gone, 

To the centuries that shall he! 

Longfellow. 



BEGINNING OF THE WOULD. 



Genesis, Chapter 1: 1-25. 

I 
HISTORICAL TRUTHS. 

(1) 
The Origin of The World. 

There have been numerous theories to account 
for the origin of the world, the simple, sublime, 
and only reasonable one is in Gen. 1 : 1. 

The Hebrew account of creation is the only 
one that satisfies the mind. This account is em- 
bodied in language adapted to convey the lofty 
truths to minds of every degree of culture. 

Ah, here comes out the infinite distance between men 
and (rod: Man is only a builder, constructing with ma- 
terials: Grod is a creator, constructing without materials. 
Thus this word "create'' is thedivinest word in language, 
human or angelic. — Boardman. 

Let there be light and there was light; 'tis so: 
For was, and is, and will be, are but is. 

Tennyson. 

(2) 
The Work of Creation. 

This work occupied six days, then came a day 
of rest. 



2 THE BOOK OF GENESIS 

These six days are divided as follows: 
First day, light; second day, air and water; 
third day, the dry land and vegetation; fourth 
day, luminaries; fifth day, animals of air and 
water; sixth day, land animals and man. 

I said, when first the world began, 
Young nature thro' five cycles ran, 
And in the sixth she moulded man. 

Tennyson . 

(3) 

The Age of The Earth. 

As regards the time of creation we are told 
nothing. Six successive periods of creation are 
spoken of but nothing said as to the length of 
each. Concerning the age of our earth the 
opinions of the highpst authorities vary and con- 
flict. Charles Darwin is satisfied with 200,000 
000 years, another holds the age of the earth at 
680,000,000 years. We are forced back to the 
indefinite, nevertheless the least variable state- 
ment in Gen. 1: 1. "In the beginning God creat- 
ed the heaven and the earth." 

Agreement of Genesis With Science. 

There is a remarkable agreement between the 
clearly ascertained facts of science and the teach- 
ings of Genesis in these first chapters. 

In the Bible revelation not science is to be looked for; 
in nature science not revelation. — Harder. 

The order of creation indicated here is in gen- 
eral what science teaches. Some fearful chris- 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 6 

tians are continually being disturbed by scientific 
discoveries that appear to antagonize if not com- 
pletely overthrow this mosaic record of creation. 
"Fear not little flock." "In the year 1806 the 
French Institute enumerated not less than 80 
geological theories which were hostile to the 
scriptures, but not one of these theories is held 

to-dav.'' 

%j 

(5) 

In the creation of the world order is manifest- 
ed, beginning at the lowest and rising to the 
highest man. 

All that preceded man was but preparing the 
way for his creation Every stage of progress 
was "good" and all things God created were 
"very good." 

The world as it came from the hand of God 
was one of "painlessness, bloodlessness, and 
peace." 



4 THE BOOE OF GENESIS 

II 

RELIGIOUS TRUTHS. 

(1) 

The Creator of All Things in The Universe 

is God. 

Perhaps the grandest question mortal can ask 
is whence came things? This question is not 
merely a scientific one, it is supremely religious, 
it has to do with the very heart of the spiritual. 
Did things make themselves? If so we have a 
world without an intelligent being as 'its author, 
pnd we are the waifs of fate and chance. Did 
God make things? If so we have a world with 
an intelligent being as its originator, and we are 
not the victims of heartless fate or headless 
chance. The answer to our question is "God 
Created/' 

The Bible assumes the existence of God. God 
the Divine Author of the Bible, does not argue 
his own existence any more than Bunyan begins 
Pilgrim's Progress by proving he himself actual- 
ly lives. 

God is All Powerful. 

A glance at the vastness of the universe will 
give a feeble conception of the infinite power of 
God. 

Consider out sun outweighing 355,000 of our 
earth. Consider 25,000,000 other sun-systems 
belonging to our own cluster, some of these suns 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 5 

being vastly larger than our own. 

The telescope has shown us we may correctly 
speak of billions of sun-systems, even quintillions. 
Practically speaking, the universe is without 
limits. 

(3) 
Goo is All Wish. 

If one looks at the structure of a leaf with its vessels 
and fibres, drawing into it the soil water taken up by the 
stem, its microscopic sac-like cells piled loosely on each 
other, its hygrometric breathing pores opening and shut- 
ting with every atmospheric change, and considers that 
this delicate organ is ritted for exposure to wind, sun, 
and rain, and through all to avail himself of undulations 
transmitted through 90,000,000 of miles of space, by 
means of which it can convert all the gases of putrescent 
matter from the soil and air into the endless variety of 
^products of the plant. We have before us the marvel of 
adaptation, speaking of design or intelligence of the 
Creator. — Dawson. 

(4) 
God is All Loving. 

Behind this veil of the visible universe which dazzles 
me, behind these blind forces of which the play at times 
terror strikes me, behind this regularity of seasons and 
this fixedness of laws, which almost compel to recognize 
in all things only the march of a fixed fate, this word, 
"and God said" unveils tome an arm of might, an eye 
which sees, a heart full of benevolence which is seeking 
me, a person who loves me. — Godet. 

(5) 
The First Great Truth of Genesis 
This is the first great teaching of Genesis, at 
the beginning of all things in the material world 



6 THE BCOK OF GENESIS 

is God. This assurance makes our work] one 
room in my Fathers house; not a dead, chill, 
impersonal force rules the world, but God who 
knows us, cares for us, loves us, makes all pro- 
vision for our welfare. 

'•The burden of the O. T. is to exhibit, first the 
only living and true God as the Creator and 
Governor of the world, in his holiness, justice, 
and spontaneous love, unweariedly occupied with 
some effort of grace." 

"Thou art worthy, O Lord God, to receive the 
glory and the honor and the might: for thou 
didst create all things, and for thy pleasure they 
are, and were created." Rev. 4: 9-11. 



BEGINNING OF THE HUMAN RACE. 



Genesis, Chapters, 1:26-3. 

I 
HISTORICAL TRUTHS. 

(0 
The Advent of Man. 1 : 26-27. 

Note the deliberation and consultation in the 
Godhead. This is hue of no other creative act; 
this marks an entirely new epoch in creation. 

The sublime act of the world's creation was 
but introductory to the sublimer act of man's 
creation. 

Writes Beecher : 

How in the household are garments quilted and 
wrought and curiously embroidered, and the softest 
things laid aside, and the cradle prepared to greet the 
little pilgrim of Jove when it comes from distant regions, 
we know not whence. Creation was God's cradle for 
Adam curiously carved and decorated, flower strewn, 
and star curtained. 

Man's body was formed from the dust of the 
ground. Modern science proves the elements of 
the earth identical with those of the body. Man 
is more than dust, he is soul. God breathed into 
his nostrils the breath of lives; man's life is ani- 
mal, intellectual, moral, spiritual. "Man became 
a living soul." 

"The soul is the man. It is not proper to say 
"man has a soul," he is a soul and has a body." 



8 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

(2) 
D,\te of Man's Creation. 

The margin of King James, or what is known 
as the common version of the Bible, gives the 
figures "4004 before Christ." These are the fig- 
ures of Arch Bishop Usher, who lived 1580-1656. 
We are safe in believing that man's appearance 
on the earth was not less than six thousand years 
before Christ. 

There have been constructed more than two 
hundred schemes of O. T. chronology. These 
vary greatly from one another. All statements 
which assign the age of our race from 60()0 to 
200,000 years, will, when our knowledge of the 
matter becomes mature, probably require revis- 
ion. 

(3) 
Man's Early Condition. 

The Bible depicts the men of the earliest age 
as from the very first "tilling the ground," 
"building cities, 57 "smelting metals" and "making 
musical instruments.' 7 

All evidence is against savagery being the first 
condition of man. The evidence of history and 
archaeology indicate the primitive condition of 
mankind was one of civilization. 

"The first man, made outright, must have been 
more than a puling infant, staring and stammer- 
ing at what he saw. We need not reckon him a 
philosopher, but we must believe him to have 
been a man; somewhat infantile, doubtless, in 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 9 

tone, but not in capacity, nor in the method of 
his mental growth." 

Lake's genealogy is one with the account in 
Genesis. 

4 'Who was the son of Enoch 

Who was the son of Seth 

Who was the son of Adam 

Who was the Son of God.*' 

It is wholly unnecessary for us to forsake the 
Biblical declaration where man is declared the 
son of God and accept the statement of a few r 
who claim man to be the son of a monkey. 

(±) 

Institution or the Sabbath. 2: 2-3. 

The Sabbath and marriage are the fair relics 
of a sinless E<leu, God's fairest gifts to man. 

Man's entire nature physical, intellectual, social, 
moral and spiritual, demands fur its highest 
wel If are the Sabbath. The Sabbath is rooted 
deep in man's nature and were there no Bible to 
command our recognition of the Sabbath it 
would still abide as an eternal necessity, wide as 
the human race, lasting as time. 

(5) 
Eden. 2 : 8. 
Where Eden was located is an unanswered 
question. The name itself means delight, but 
has no reference to any particular locality. 

Says Smith in his dictionary of the Bible: 

The thi-HB continents of the Old World have been sub- 
jected to the most rigorous search, from China to the 



10 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

Canary Isles, from the- mountains of the moon to the 
coasts of the Baltic, and there remains but the new 
world where the next searcher may bewilder himself in 
the maze of this most difficult search. 

Probably the Garden was somewhere in the 
Highlands of Armenia. We must agree with 
Delitzsch, "Paradise is lost." 

(6) 
Tree of Life and Teee of Good and Evil. 2 : 9 

Among the trees of the Garden two claim our 
attention, because of their symbolical character, 
the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Good and Evil. 

The Tree of Life seems to have been emblem- 
atic of a higher condition of life which Adam and 
Eve might attain as reward for obedience. 

The Tree of Good and Evil was evidently de- 
signed to test their obedience, to determine 
whether they would follow good or evil. 

(<) 

The Advent of Woman. 2: 21-22. 
All creatures were man's servants, there was 
none among them for his companion. 

God says I will make him a helpmeet, correct- 
ly rendered the words would state, 

"I will make him a help as over against him" 
or ' ; so as to meet him" that is to say I will create 
for man one whose nature and character w 7 ill be 
suited to him, his counterpart. 

" 'Tis woman's to bind up the broken heart, 
And soften the bending spirit's smart; 
And to light in this world of sin and pain, 
The Lamp of love, and of joy again." 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 11 

II 

EELIGIOUS TRUTHS. 

(1) 
Dignity of Man. 1 ; 27. 

Some materialists speak in ridicule of man as 
being merely "a digestive tube." Celsus, the 
first notable writer against Christianity makes 
the insignificance of man his favorite theme. 

The discoveries of astronomy have seemed the 
echo of the Psalmist, ' what is man that thou art 
mindful of him?' 

Man's dignity and greatness are pre-eminently 
spiritual. 

The image of God in man is the basis of his 
dignity. Let us note what this image seems to 
be. 

''God is Love," the image of God in man is 
love. In his matchless analysis of love Paul 
names fifteen distinctive features of it. 

Justice is love looking upon the wronged and consider- 
ing what it can and ought to do to right him. - Mercy is 
love looking upon the wrong-doer and considering what 
it can do to cure him. Pity is love looking upon suffer- 
ing and considering what it can do for its relief. Sym- 
pathy is love entering into the life of another and shar- 
ing it with him. — Abbott. 

Through Jesus Christ the image of God in the 
soul of man is restored. 

Into thy likeness, G Christ, may we grow; for 
thou art the Love of God and the God of Love. 

What this sinning, sorrowing world needs is 
God imaged men and women; they alone will be 



12 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

the ki Lever to uplift the earth 

And roll it in another course ." 
Human being thou hast within thee the possi- 
bility of coming into the image of God, and com- 
ing into this image thou shalt come into a bless- 
ed immortality. "Whether there be prophecies 
they shall fail, whether there be tongues they 
shall cease" but love is as immortal as God, and 
must eternally share his blessedness. 

(2) 
Sacredness of The Sabbath. 2: 3. 

That man absolutely needs one day of rest af 
ter six days of toil is beyond dispute. 

His bodily and mental nature demand this day 
of rest. The testimony of physicians, physiol- 
ogists, political economists, managers of all sorts 
of industrial establishments is unanimous and 
emphatic on this point; violation of the divine 
purpose of the Sabbath will, without the shadow 
of a doubt unmake the violator, whether it be an 
individual or a nation. "The Sabbath is to be 
kept in such a way as will unfold man heaven- 
ward the most thorough^ 7 , totally, symmetrically." 

"When will my pilgrimage be done, 

The world's long work be o'er, 

That Sabbath dawn which needs no sun, 

That day which fades no more?" 

(3) 
Sacredness of Work. 2 : 15 
Work is healthy. Motion is life, stagnation, 
death; activity is construction, idleness, destruc- 
tion. "An angel's wing would droop and lose 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 13 

its power were it long inactive." They are wise 
who work to life's latest hour. 

All honest work is honorable, sacred, God de- 
vised. 

I believe that the devout fisherman off the coast of 
Labrador, whose sanctuary is his little smack, whose 
lamps are the stars of night, whose music is the choir of 
wind and wave, pursues a calling as honorable in the 
sight of Him who seeth in secret as does the preacher 
whose holy eloquence stirs to their lowest depths the 
hearts of worshiping multitudes. — Boardman. 

(i) 

Sacredness of Marriage. 2 : 23-24. 

Marriage with its erection of a new household 
is the most vital, and most fraught with good or 
ill of all human relationships. 

What greater thing is there for two human souls, than 
to feel that they are joined for life — to strengthen each 
other in all labor, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to 
minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each 
other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of 
the last meeting — George Eliot. 

We would strenuously maintain that love is the 
supreme condition of marriage. Marriage based 
on brute passion, convenience, ambition, and 
the like is little more than legalized unchastity, 
such can never make the twain oue flesh, or one 
in mutual love and harmony, such marriages are 
formed in earth, or in some lower place. Hus- 
band and wife should be one like 

Consonant chords that shiver to one note; 

The two-celled heart beating, with one full stroke, 

Life. 

Tennyson. 



14 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

"Wife" literally means a weaver, the wife is 
the person who weaves. 

Thus as Trench remarks: 

In the word itself is wrapped up a hint of earnest, in- 
door, stay-at-home occupations as being fitted for her 
who bears this name. 

The exclusion of woman from many spheres 
in public life is of little concern, if she wields the 
sceptre as Queen in the Home. 



BEGINNING OF SIN IN THE HUMAN 

RACE. 



Genesis, Chapter, 3. 
I 
HISTORICAL TRUTHS. 

(1) 
The Temptation. 3:1. 

Sin was already in the universe. There was 
then in existence a race of fallen, rational creat- 
ures, of which Satan was the head. 

The tempter under the guise of a serpent — 
"being more subtle than any beast of the field" 
the serpent would be least likely to arouse sus- 
picion — this spirit of evil came to Eve, who per- 
chance the tempter knew was the weaker of the 
two human beings. 

The tempter appeals to the aj^petite, to the 
eye, and the aspiration after knowledge. The 
temptation of Christ in the desert seems to have 
been along these same lines. Note that the re- 
sult of Christ's temptation was a reversal of 
Adam's. 

(2) 

The Fall. 3 : 6. 

We now meet the first human sinning with its 
guilt, shame and death. 

The story of the fall, like that of creation, has wan- 
dered over the world. Heathen nations have transplant- 



16 THE BOOK OF GENESIS 

ed and mixed it up with their geography, their history, 
their mythology, although it has never so completely 
changed form and color and spirit that you cannot recog- 
nize it. — Deh'tzsch. 

(3) 
The Punishment. 2: 17, 3: 16-19. 

The punishment of sin is hinted at by the 
word death, a word of unfathomable meaning. 
Death means unspeakably more than the mere 
dissolution of the body, death means degeneracy, 
depravity, the hell of a sin tilled heart. 

As a result of sin death came upon the human 
race. 

The body became subject to death, the intellect 
became dead in vain imaginations, the heart and 
conscience dead in alienation from God. This 
death was manifested in the sense of guilt, and 
in the shrinking from God. 

Death as the wages of sin (Rom. 6: 23) includes not 
only temporal death, or the death of the body, with all 
the ills attendant upon a state of mortality, but also 
spiritual death, or the alienation of the soul from God, 
who is the only source of spiritual life (Eph. 2 : 1) and, 
lastly, everlasting death, or final exclusion from God and 
holiness and blessedness. (Matt. 25: 41) — Prof, Green. 

(±) 

The Promise. 3: 15. 
Here at the very threshold of Eden is the shin- 
ing promise of a Redeemer. Tracing along the 
O. T. scriptures we find a unity of promise con- 
cerning the coming of a Saviour who is to be the 
Redeemer. Jacob speaks of Shiioh the Prince of 
Peace, a lawgiver like unto Moses. David in 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 17 

the Psalms speaks of a son who was to have an 
everlasting kingdom. Isaiah minutely desciibes 
this Redeemer, the child of Hope, the Comforter 
of his people, the suffering one, the Prince of 
Peace. Daniel in Babylon specifies his character 
and work. Zechaiiah and Malachi take up the 
same glorious strain and speak of the coming 
one, Purifier, Deliverer, Redeemer. 

The promised Redeemer is to be human, since 
he is to be of the seed of the woman, he is to be 
more than human since he is to be the Con- 
queror of Satan. 

(5) 
Not Myth or Allegory. 3. 

We are sometimes told that this story in Gen- 
esis, chapter 3, is a myth or allegory. 

Let us recall to mind what a large part of this story 
must be true, even if it made no pretence to be an inspir- 
ed narrative. It is not certainly a myth that there is a 
human race, and there must have been a first pair, and 
this first pair must have had a home and a creator at 
hand; and this first pair must have had their first move 
in virtue or sin; and from what sin we now see in the 
world, that they early left the paradise of virtue is the 
verdict of history.— Prof. Swing. 

If Paradise be an allegorical garden, the trees that 
grew in it allegorical trees, the rivers that watered it 
allegorical rivers, we may thus ascend to the very begin- 
ning of the creation, and conclude at last that the heavens 
are allegorical heavens, and the earth an allegorical 
earth. Thus the whole history of creation will be an al- 
legory, of which the real subject is not disclosed, and in 
this absurdity the whole scheme of allegorizing ends. — 
Horsley. 



18 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

II 

RELIGIOUS TRUTHS. 

(1) 
Personality of Satan. 3:1. 

That this tempter was a real personal Devil is 
certainly implied by Obiist in Jno. 8 : 44, and by 
Paul in II Cor. 11 : 3, also in Rev. 20 : 21. 

The word Devil sounds harsh to ears polite, 
some iu our day refuse to associate with the Devil 
by name; a hasty inspection of their lives show 
that the devil has not refused to associate with 
them. 

We may cull out a softer name to express this 
personage, the milder name does not mellow the 
nature of the person expressed, he is the Devil 
still, a distinct, real, deadly foe, with mysterious 
and enormous power. 

The Kingdom of Evil with the Devil at its 
head, is organized for devilish work, its battal- 
ions hurl themselves against the soul with unerr- 
ing precision, and crushing force. Life is grand 
but awful, its grandeur is in the heights to which 
the soul may rise, its awfulness in the depths to 
which the soul may sink. Man is a fallen beino'i 
there is nothing to stop his descent until he fails 
into the arms of Jesus Christ. 

Genesis opens with the account of the temptation in 
the garden, securing the fall of our first parents; and the 
book of Revelation closes with the prediction of the 
Devil's final overthrow and destruction, in company with 
all those who have persistently adhered to his revolt. 
The intervening books consistently speak of his character, 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 19 

ofliis direct antagonism to Christ, and of Lis schemes 
and influence during the world's history, and warn us 
against his snares. — Patto?i. 

(2) 
Mission of Temptation. 3:1. 

Without temptation Adam would not have 
fallen, without it you and I would not have fallen, 
but without it, so far as human eye can see, we 
would not have risen. 

From the child-like innocence in which man originally 
was, he was to pass forward into the condition of moral 
manhood, which consists not in mere innocence, but in 
innocence maintained in presence of temptation. The 
savage is innocent of many of the crimes of civilized man 
because he has no opportunity to commit them; the child 
is innocent of some of the vices of manhood because he 
has no temptation to them. But this innocence is the 
result of circumstance, not of character; and if a savage 
or child is to become a mature, moral being, he must be 
tried by altered circumstance, by temptation and oppor- 
tunity. —Dods. 

We have lost our innocence, sounding ever in 
our ears is the refrain "innocent nevermore." 
We cannot be innocent, but what is unspeakably 
greater and grander, through Jesus Christ we 
can be redeemed, sanctified, and glorified. I 
would rather be a sinner redeemed, than an 
angel innocent. 

(3) 
Reality of Six. 3:7-11. 
Some advanced people sneer at sin, some make 
little of it, isome make nothing of it. Sneering at 
and minimizing sin does not lessen its awful re- 
sults. Sin is a tenible realitv in the human heart. 



20 THE BOOK OF GENESIS 

God could have prevented sin only at the ex- 
pense of destroying man or depriving man of all 
that distinguishes him as man. To have pre- 
vented sin God would have had to destroy man's 
will, to destroy that would mean destruction to 
personality, for will presupposes an intelligent, 
rational person. 

Sin is original in the soul. Men are not born 
good, and from outside influences become 
evil. Jesus says, "From within, out of the heart 
of men"' evil proceeds. Mark 7:21,22, gives a 
dark list but a true one. 

As Robert Browning said, the foremost among 
arguments for the Divinity of Christianity was, 
it taught original sin, and hurled aside the lie, 
men were born good. 

I still, to suppose it true, for my part, 

See reasons and reasons; this to be^in — 

'Tis the faith that launched, point-blank her dart 

At the head of a lie — 'aught original sin. 

Browning. 

Adam fell into sin, we are born to it. We choose it, 
indeed, but it is our first choice. But now besides sin, 
we have grace also in the problem, lioth are inexplica- 
ble. Sin is a mystery, which human speculation has 
never fathomed. Grace is a mystery, which the angels 
desire to look into. — Hitchcock. 

(4) 
Mission of Cheist. 3: 15. 
"It shall bruise thy head." 

It is well known in those countries where ser- 
pents are plentiful, that there is no more certain 
way of insuring the death of a serpent than by 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 21 

crushing bis bead. The reason for this is said 
to be the fact that the heart is situated near the 
head. These words are the sure prophecy of the 
utter overthrow of Satan and his kingdom by 
the Christ. 

At the very opening of the New Testament we 
have this mission definitely named. (Matt. 1 : 21) 
"Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for He shall 
save His people from their sins." Salvation from 
sin; not merely from the results of sin, but from 
their sins themselves. This Redeemer saves un- 
to the uttermost, from the penalty, from the 
power, from the presence, a complete salvation. 

If Christ be God, the only Saviour from sin, 
you ought to accept Him as your King and Re- 
deemer, do it now, do it now. 

"Forever round the mercy- seat 

The guiding lights of Love shall burn; 
But what if, habit bound, thy feet 

Shall lack the will to turn? 
What if thine eye refuse to see, 

Thine ear of Heaven's free welcome fail, 
And thou a willing captive be, 

Thyself thine own dark jail?'' 



BEGINNING OF CONFLICT BETWEEN 

GOOD AND EVIL IN THE HUMAN 

FA CE. 



Genesis, Chapters, Jf.-5. 

I 

HISTORICAL TRUTHS. 

(1) 
The First Children. 4: 1-2. 

Here the first husband and wife become the 
first father and mother and we have the first chil- 
dren who are mentioned, Cain and Abel. We 
arp not to i< fer there were no others, the Bible 
only mentions those persons and events neces- 
sary in tLe carrying out of its supreme purpose, 
namely, to give us a history of the rise and pro- 
gress of the Kingdom of God in the world. 

In the edenic prophecy there was shadowed 
forth a mighty conflict between good and evil, 
which was to abide through the ages. The Ser- 
pent was to have a seed, a party moved by his 
spirit, also the Deliverer was to have a seed ani- 
mated by his spirit. These two parties would be 
in continual conflict with each other, until the 
satanic party would be crushed, In the first 
children, Cain and Abel, stand forth the first 
representatives of these antagonistic parties. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 23 

(2) 

The First Offerings. 4: 3-5. 

Here at the threshold of the development of mankind, 
we come upon the mystery of 4000 years, the institution 
of sacrifices, what was their origin, and whence the 
strange accord by which sacrifices are the central point 
in the religion of all ancient peoples? Manifestly the 
Biblical record does not give us light on the subject, but 
at the same time it seems to imply that God had given 
instructions concerning, and that he had instituted, this 
ordinance. — Kurtz. 

There are strong reasons for believing that sac- 
rifices were not of human invention, but of di- 
vine institution. Of all methods by which God 
could be worshiped acceptably, that of sacrific- 
ing an animal would seem to have been least like- 
ly to have originated in the human mind. 

This sacrifice, as all O. T. sacrifices, looked 
forward to The Lamb of God. ' v Without the 
shedding of blood is no remission of sins." 

If God had instituted animal sacrifice as a 
method of approaching him, we may here find 
the reason for Cain's rejection. Cain wilfully vi- 
olated God's command in offering the fruits of 
the earth; Abel offered an animal sacrifice, the 
true sacrifice, this was accepted. Cain approach- 
ed God in Cain's way, not in God's way, show- 
tbe spirit of disobedience, entire lack of the true 
spirit of worship; inevitably he and his offering 
are rejected. 

"If thou doest well shalt not thou also be ac- 
cepted/' 



24 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

He was not doing well, for that reason was 
not accepted. 

Cain's offering indicated neither a sense of sin- 
fulness or penitence. Cain was the primitive 
Pharisee. 

(3) 
The First Murder. 4:8. 

We have see a thp origin of evil, now we are to 
see its progress. The conflict between the "seed, 
of the woman" and the "seed of the serpent" be- 
gins in the first family. Strange to say this con- 
flict begins in connection with the sacred act of 
religious worship. From that time to this the 
most terrible deads have been done in the name 
of religion. 

Human sin made a gigantic advance in this act. The 
first sin was caused by the charms of sense, and in con- 
sequence of a cunningly planned temptation; now dia- 
bolical hatred and brutal barbarity unite and bring forth 
murder. Men now for the first time bury their dead, 
and this first dead man is the first martyr, and his broth- 
er is his murderer. As Grod asked Adam, Where art 
thou? he now asks Cain: Wlit»re is thy brother? Cain's 
answer shows what terrible progress sin had made since 
the fall of our parents; in their case there was timid, 
anxious flight and excuses, here a bold lie, an unloving 
defiance. — Delitzsch . 

Some of the legends connected with the death 
of Abel are touching and suggestive. One day, 
says one of them, Abel was asleep on a mountain 
and Cain took a stone and crushed his head. 
Then he threw the corpse on his back and car- 
ried it about not knowing what to do with it. 
But he saw two crows fighting, one killed the 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 25 

other, on which the crow that lived dug a hole 
in the earth with his beak and buried the dead 
bird. But Cain said, I shall learn sense from this 
bird, I too will bury my brother in the ground, 
and he did so. 

(4) 
The First City. 4: 17. 
Cain dwelt in the land of Nod, its location is 
not known. He carried with him a sign, to pre- 
serve him from his avenger. What the sign was 
is mere conjecture. 

The Laws of Menu, one of the oldest books in 
existence, show that in ancient India, it was cus- 
tomary to brand criminals with "marks," which 
denoted the crime of which they had been guilty. 
The following marks were set upon persons 
who had committed the crimes to which they are 
annexed: 

"For drinking spirits, a vintner's flag, 

For stealing sacred gold, a dog's foot; 

For murdering a priest, the figure of a headless 

corpse. 
With none to eat with them, 
With none to be allied by marriage to them; 
Abject and excluded from all social duties, 
Let them wander over the earth; 
Branded with indelible marks, 

They shall be deserted by their paternal and mater- 
nal relations. 
Treated by none with affection; 
Received by none with respect. 
Such is the ordinance of Menu.'' 

The marks were branded by a hot iron on the 
forehead. 



26 THE EOOK OF GENESIS 

The punishment of such a criminal appears to 
have been greater than that of Cain. 

In the land of Nod Cain built a city. 

We have no reason to suppose it was more than a col- 
lection of low cottages or hovels. Probably a wooden 
frame wattled with reeds or twigs, and plastered with 
mad. — Kitto. 

"It was a long step towards civilization when 
the idea of building a city was first conceived 
and realized. The roaming, savage like life 
abandoned, social ties were formed, families 
joined together, communities arose, and submit- 
ted to the rulings of the self imposed laws; the 
way to a steady and continuous progress was 
paved/' 

(5) 

The First Inventions. 4: 20 22. 

Jabal invented tents or movable dwellings. 

Jubal, "was the father of all such as handle the 
harp or organ." 

The harp is the most ancient of stringed in- 
struments. It was sometimes called sheminith, 
or eight stringed. See title to Ps. (». There 
were some harps furnished with only three 
strings. Josephus assigns ten strings to the 
harp, an evidence th it in his time the number of 
strings had been increased. The strings were 
first made of twisted flax or some similar sub- 
stance, at a later date were made from the en- 
trails of sheep. 

The organ, this may be termed the ancient 
shepherd's pipe. It consisted at first of only one 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 27 

or two, but later of about seven pipes, made of 
reeds and differing from each other in length. 

Tubal-Cain, he was the inventor of the useful 
arts, requiring tools for their culture. "An in- 
structer of every artificer in brass and iron." 
From the time of Tubal-Cain we find reference 
iu scripture to many kinds of manufactures in 
iron. Bedsteads of iron, chariots of iron, armor 
of iron, horns of iron, a pen of iron, gods of iron. 

A Jewish tradition ascribes to Naamah, sister 
of Tubal Cain, the introduction of ornaments for 
female dress. 

(6) 
The Fiust Division of the Race. 4:25. 

"It was not till Seth was born that Abel had a 
like-miuded successor, oue who walked ''by 
faith," felt his guilt in God's sight, and by his 
burnt-offering expressed his reliance on the free 
mercy of God." 

For several generations the population of the world at- 
tached its-elf either to Cain or to Seth, like a river that 
lias divided into two great branches, but the Godless 
branch had the start of the other by at least one hun- 
dred and thirty years; and it is not surprising that in 
these circumstances it was the ungodly branch that pre- 
vailed. — Bla ik ie . 

c, The glory of the line of Cain was in arts and 
manufactures, worldly pursuits, worldly good 
and enjoyment. 

The glory of the line of Seth was in giving 
birth to men likn Enoch, who walked with God, 
and Noah, the second father of mankind." 



28 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

Corruption of morals made the greatest head- 
way in the line of Cain, where greatest progress 
had been made in civilization, thus declaring 
that art, science, and knowledge bereft of relig- 
ion, are powerless to preserve society or the hu- 
man heart from corruption, decay, and death. 

The song of Larnech may be regarded as an ode of tri- 
umph on the invention of the sword. He can provide 
more amply for his protection than God did for Cain's, 
and he congratulates his wives on being the mothers of 
such sons. Thus the Cainites began with a deed of mur- 
der, and here it ends with a song of murder. — Drechsler, 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 29 

II 

EELIGIOUS TRUTHS. 

(1) 
Christ Our Sacrifice. 4: 4. 

This verse is an index finger pointing to Cal- 
vary. ''Christ died for our sins." "The Son of 
Man came to give his life a ransom for many." 

Christ is our sacrifice. Instead of the sinner, 
Christ died. 

It was necessary for Jesus to die that God's 
government might be administered, yet no stain 
be found upon it, at the same time man might 
have a full and free pardon. Through Christ's 
death God could be just, yet our justifier. The 
Atonement is a mystery, but a reality. 
• In an assembly of "Liberal Christians," (I 
know not in what sense ''liberal" is now tacked 
on to Christians, unless it be "liberal" in casting 
to the four winds the most precious portions of 
the Bible,) in this assembly the question came, 
"Why is it that all evangelical bodies of believers 
are making rapid progress, while we alone go 
backwards?" Many answers were given, finally 
one of those present gave the correct answer, 
"Brethren, we must not expect to receive great 
accessions from among the people so long as we 
reject the doctrine of the blood, we have no blood 
in our religion." An honest, yet terribly sad con- 
fession. A religion without blood is hopeless 
and helpless, for without the shedding of blood 
there is no remission of sin. 



30 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

The very ^od: think A Lib; dost tliou think? 
So the All-Great were thr. All-Loving too — 
So through the thunder conies a human voice 
Saying, heart I made, a heart heats here! 
Face, my hands fashioned, see it in myself! 
Thou hast no power, nor mav'st conceive of mine; 
But Love I gave thee, with myself to love, 
And thou must love me who have died for thee! 

Browning. 

(2) 
I Am My Brother's Keeper. 4:9. 

Abel was dead, Cain the slayer stood by the 
side of the slain; God, creator of both, asks Cain 
a question. "Where is Abel thy brother?" The 
answer came, "Am I my brother's keeper?" Which 
is equivalent to, I am not my brother's keeper. 
We live in a Christian age, God puts the same 
question to us he put to Cain; too frequently we 
answer as answered Cain. 

Our Christianity is a farce if not "altruistic." 
We use this word because it expresses exactly 
what we desire to say, it speaks of thoughtful- 
ness, carefulness, helpfulness towards others. 

The sum of the commandments is to love God 
and love thy neighbor. To love God and ignore 
our neighbor, is a flat contradiction, a sheer im- 
possibility. 

Love has both feet upon the earth, and pours 
out its life not because it is easy and pleasant, 
but because it is light. Love serves, works, 
helps, denies self, blesses the world, on fixed and 
unalterable principle. Saying, "Lord, Lord," 
never has or will save a soul. Salvation is a 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 31 

Christ like character; such a character is love. 
Friend, if } t ou lack the love which is not mere 
emotion, but unquenchable motion in service and 
duty, you lack salvation. 

We must not confound self-interest with selfish- 
ness. 

Self-interest cares for self that it may be able 
to care for others; selfishness cares for self and is 
careless of others. 

Nothing for self and all for others is scarcely 
less injurious than all for self and nothing for 
others. 

An exhausted person cannot help his exhaust- 
ed neighbor. Be something, have something, 
but remember being and having are bat means 
to an end, do something. 

1 Chemistry is the working out of the idea of af- 
finity, political economy of the idea of value. 
Christianity is the working out of the idea of 
unselfishness. This idea worked in by Christ 
and worked out by man, will usher in the age of 
light and usher out the age of darkness 

Bringing into realization the dream of Macaulay 
in his 'Lays of Ancient Rome," 

Then none was for a party; 

Then all were for the state; 

Then the great men helped the poor, 

And the poor man loved the great. 

(3) 
Sin And Punishment. 4: 13. 
Punishment is the opposite side of sin. The 



32 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 



fool hath said in his heart, "I may sin and escape 
punishment/' this is the absurdity of saying, < ; I 
may sin and escape sin." 

The soul contains within itself all the elements 
necessary for the infliction of punishment: mem- 
ory, conscience, reason. Whether in this world 
or another, punishment must follow the evil doer, 
so long as the being has a memory to recall, a 
conscience to condemn, and reason to justify 
penalty. It is not at all necessary to have an 
outer hell of brimstone and fire. Hell is a soul 
state. The guilty have within them all factors 
essential for making hell. 

Victor Hugo, in his poem La Conscience, de- 
picts Cain fleeing before the Eye of God. He 
Travels thirty days and nights, until he reaches 
the shores of the ocean. "Let us stop here," says 
he. As he sits down, his face pales, he has seen 
"in the mournful skies the Eye at the same 
place, His sons attempt to erect barriers be- 
tween him and the Eye, first a tent, then a wall of 
iron, then a tower, then a city, all in vain. "I 
see the Eye still" cries the misery struck man. 

Finally they dig a tomb, the father is put into 
it. But 

"Though overhead they closed the awful vault 
The Eye was in the tomb and looked on Cain." 

(5) 
Assubance of ax Hebeafter. 5 : 24. 
The fifth chapter of Genesis is chiefly a list of 

names and n^e?, at first sight uninteresting. A 
search amongst these names brings to light the 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 33 

name of Enoch; bis biography is the briefest, 
yet one of the brightest in the 0. T. "Enoch 
walked with God : and he was not, for God took 
him." 

As a little girl said : 

God was accustomed to take walks with Enoch, and 
one day they went farther than usual, and God said, 
'Enoch, you are a long way from home; better come in 
and stay with Me,' so he went and has stayed ever since. 

There are three ascensions in three distinct 
eras; Enoch in the era before the flood, Elijah in 
the era after the flood, preceding the coming of 
Christ and Jesus in the New Christian Era. 

These ascensions declare the reality of an un- 
seen world, where this life continues its immortal 
course begun here. 
, "Oh, for a closer walk with God, 
A calm and heavenly frame, 
A light to shine upon the road 
That leads me to the Lamb." 



BEGINNING ANEW OF THE HUMAN 

RACE. 



Genesis, Chapters 6-11. 

I 

HISTORICAL TRUTHS. 

(I) 
Wickedness of The Antediluvians 6: 5. 

For centuries the conflict between good and 
evil continued with increasing vigor. Both 
Cainites and Sethites, with the notable exception 
of Noah, became hopelessly corrupt. 

One of the chief agencies in precipitating the 
apostasy of the antediluvians was the inter- 
marriage of the two lines of descent from Adam. 

"The sons of God saw the daughters of men 
that they were fair; and they took them wives 
of all which they chose." 

The most reasonable explanation of the phrase 
"sons of God," is that these were of the \iue of 
Seth, and the "daughters of men" were the 
women of the corrupt line of Cain. 

(2) 
Eiohteous Noah. 6:8. 

Amongst universal wickedness one righteous 
soul was found; Noah, son of Limech. 

Noah was a just man, not spotless, but upright, 
honest, pious. Noah was perfect, that is, sound 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 35 

and healthy; the word does not convey the idea 

of sinlessness. 

Noah walked with God, like his ancestor, 

Enoch, 

"Who climbed love's ladder so high 

From the round at the top he stepped to the sky.'' 

(3) 
The Ark. 6 : 14. 

The ark occupied about 120 years in building. 
The length of the ark was 450 feet, its breadth 
75 feet, its depth 45 feet. 

The progress in the mechanical arts would un- 
doubtedly by this time permit the building of 
such a craft. God was the designer of this won- 
derful vessel, and gave Noah explicit directions 
regarding its construction. 

Within this ark, besides Noah and wife, his 
three sons and their wives, were gathered all the 
different species of beasts and fowls and creeping 
things; seven of each of the clean species and 
two of the unclean, when all was in readiness 
the door was shut by the hand of God. 

(4) 
The Flood. 7U1. 
"The same day all the fountains of the great 
deep were broken up and the windows of heaven 
were opened." 

Evidently there was a mighty convulsion of 
the earth, perhaps an earthquake, an upheaval 
and settling of the land, accompanied by a down 
pouring of torrents of rain. 



36 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

The Bible gives us not a single picture of the 
scene that followed. It merely savs every living 
creature was swept from the earth. 

It is not difficult for us to conceive of the death 
struggles and cries of despair, as the multitudes 
fled in terror from the risiug waters. 

First of all there arises in the imagination a scene of 
brawny men fighting with the floods, carrying their fam- 
ilies from height to height. The next scene is that of de- 
feat and death, bloodless corpses float everywhere like 
seaweed. Last of all, desolation, stillness, not one sound 
or sign of life. — Blaikie. 

All the earth frequently means iu the Bible 
"all the region." "all the land, 7 ' that portion of 
the earth which is the home of the people. 

"The Queen of the South came from the ends 
of the earth;*' the meaning clearly is limited by 
the knowledge of the known earth. 

It seems reasonable and more biblical than nn- 
biblical to say Ihe deluge was limited to the 
known world. Tiie purpose of the flood was to 
destroy man from the face of the earth, this par- 
pose was achieved, how far over the earth the 
deluge had to extend to achieve this purpose no 
being knows. 

Seven months after Noah entered the ark, the 
ark grounded among the mountains of Ararat. 

Another period nearly as long followed, ere 
Noah received instructions to leave his place of 
refuge. 

At the end of 375 days the living freightage de- 
serted the ark, for a desolate, God smitten world. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 37 

Noah becomes the second head of the human 
race. The race takes a new beginning. The 
family of Noah begins history anew. 

(5) 
The Rainbow. 9:13. 

When o'er the green undeluged eartli 

Heaven's covenant thou didst shine, 
How came the world's gray fathers forth 

To watch thy sacred sign? 
And when its yellow lustre smiled 

O'er mountains yet untrod, 
Each mother held aloft her child. 

To bless the Bow of God. 

Campbell. 

There is no reason to suppose that this bow in 
the sky had not appeared before. The bow is 
now used as a pledge that God would keep his 
promise, not^to destroy man again by a flood. 

This first covenant between God and man was confirm- 
ed by a sign worthy of a transaction so unique. The 
rainbow had glittered on the clouds for immeasurable 
ages before man's creation, but it was now to be adopted 
as a divine pledge of good will to our race. The sacred- 
ness of the rainbow has passed from this consecration in- 
to the religions and poetry of all nations. The rainbow 
is the pledge of friendship between God and man, the 
token of divine grace and pity, the assurance of preserv- 
ing uhY*s.— Geikie. 

(6) 

The Pkophecy of Noah. 9 : 25-27. 

"Cursed be Canaan; 

A servant of servants shall he be 

unto his brethren. 
Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem: 



38 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

And let Canaan be his servant. 
Japheth, God shall enlarge, 
And in the tents of Shem let him dwell, 
And let Canaan be his servant.'.' 

This prophecy declares the exact develojDinent 
of human history. 

Enlargement is prophecied of Japheth. The 
Japhetic races have ever been remarkable as the 
colonizing races. The Semitic races have re- 
mained stationary; the Japhetic races have over- 
run the habitable earth. 

(7) 
The Catalogue or Nations. 10. 

This tenth chapter of Genesis is a chapter of 
genealogies; we are prone to under value a chap- 
ter like this, deeming it barren and unprofitable. 

This chapter "is as essential to an understand- 
ing of the Bible, and of history iu general, as is 
Homer's Catalogue, in the second book of the 
Iliad, to a true knowledge of the Homeric poems, 
and the Homeric times." 

The biblical student must have this chapter, 
would he have an intelligent view of the Bible 
and history iu general. 

The tenth chapter of Genesis is the most remarkable 
document in existence; remarkable because associated 
with tacts in the past which have been established, and 
with facts in the future which could only be known to 
one supernaturally instructed. No page of history can 
be made parallel with it. The records of succeeding 
centuries confirm it, and the present condition of the 
world is its commentary. — Fraser. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 39 

(8) 
The Dispersion. 11. 

How long a time elapsed between the flood and 
the call of Abraham, cannot be exactly told, per- 
haps about 120o years. The history of this pe- 
riod is almost entirely blank. There is scarcely 
a hint of the moral and spiritual history of the 
race. 

The only definite event recorded of that time, 
is the building of the Tower of Babel. 

As men were traveling in the East, they reach- 
ed the Plain of Shinar, where there was a great 
supply of clay, which served for brick, and bitu- 
men, which served for mortar. 

The Tower was designed to serve as a bond of union, to 
be a rallying point for all surrounding peoples, who 
were naturally tending to separation, and to form new 
communities apart from the rest. These men who were 
at the head of the scheme desired to concentrate the 
united energies of the whole race in one spot. After- 
history has shown that concentration of great power in 
one centre and in one ruler, is a great evil. These men 
were going to take the destinies of the world in their own 
hands, and counteract the great law of dispersion. It 
seems to have been chiefly for this reason that the 
scheme met with the opposition cf God. By the con- 
fusion of tongues the Lord defeated the plan, laid the 
foundation for a wide dispersion of men, and likewise for 
the gathering of them into distinct nations and social 
bodies, a process which seems hitherto to have hardly 
begun. — Blaikie. 



40 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

(9) 
Uniqueness of Genesis. Chapters 1-11. 
The first eleven chapters of Genesis are unique in the 
following particulars: 

1. In Scope. All that portion of the Bihle which 
treats of general history is found in these chapters, f->r 
the twelfth introduces the special history of a nation Of 
the four thousand years which passed hefore the coming 
of Christ, these eleven chapters cover one half, the re- 
mainder of the Old Testament being given up to the 
other half. In these chapters we find the beginnings of 
those things on which to-day the world's scientific an! 
philosophic thinking is engaged. 

2. In the Magnitude of the Themes. It is only neces- 
sary to mention some of these themes; for example, the 
origin of life, the origin of sin, the beginnings of civiliza- 
tion, the dispersion of nation-, the confusion of tongues. 

3. In Choice of Selection. We think sometimes that 
only a little of the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David are 
given us in the Bonks of Samuel, about fifty chapters. 
If the compiler of these books has omited much material 
which might have been included, what shall we say of 
the compiler of the eleven chapters of Genesis, who has 
as a maiter of fact, spoken only of eight or nine events 
in two thousand years. 

4. In Relation to Science. It is in these chapters 
that the Bible is brought into contact with science. Here 
questions arise relating to astronomy, physics, geology, 
geography, biology, ethnology, and philology. The re- 
lation of the Bible to science will be settled by the de- 
cision in reference to these chapters. 

5. In Being Pre-Hebraic. There is yet no Hebrew 
nation; there is yet no Hebrew language. 

6. In Being Pre-Historic. The period dealt with, at 
least so far as concerns the Antediluvian part of it is be- 
fore the beginning of history. — Harper. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 41 

ir 

RELIGIOUS TRUTHS. 

(1) 
The Wrath of God. 6:13. 

The wrath of God against the sin of man is as 
great as the love of God for the soul of man. If 
God ceased to hate sin he would cease to love the 
sinner. Man 's supreme enemy is sin; God 
would destroy what is destroying his highest 
creation. 

The shining truth of the Bible, the love of God, 
has been distorted. There is a strong tendenc}* 
to reduce God to a being, with an easy good 
nature which -winks at sin. A God who* is love, 
but not wrath, is neither the God of the ancient 
prophets nor the God of Jesus Christ. A God 
without a conscience would be as awful as a God 
without a heart. Love without justice is gush- 
ing nonsense. Over against Calvary is Sainai. 

Righteous wrath is neither spite, malice, re- 
venge nor temper, it is hatred of wrong as wrong, 
it is the offspring of a healthy heart and a sound 
conscience. 

Those that love the Lord are commanded to 
"hate evil." 

Excusing evil, compromising with it is a fla- 
grant violation of this command. Hate it, de- 
stroy it, this is the only Christian attitude towards 
evil. 

Jeremiah desperately exclaims, ".Run to and 
fro thiough the streets of Jerusalem, and see 



42 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

now, and know, and seek in the broad places 
thereof, if ye can find a man/' 

A man with a conscience that would blaze with 
holy indignation against sin, such was difficult to 
find in Jeremiah's day, such is difficult to dis- 
cover in our day. 

"Ye serpents, generation of vipers, how can ye 
escape the damnation of hell." 

These words sound harsh to our ears, attuned 
to the soft, silky phrases that overlook and mini- 
mize sin. 

In our times a man murders his wife, women 
carry him bouquets instead of vipers; a brute 
that deserves the damnation of hell, receives 
from silly creatures the exhileration of roses. 

Not to be angry with sin is to connive at it; to connive 
at sin is sinful, to be sinful is to be no longer divine. 
When God is angry it is a moral fire that is burning in 
Him, it is his protest on behalf of those who yet may be 
saved from sin. — Parker. 

Such unmitigated evils as the liquor .traffic 
need to feel a burst of diviue wrath. 

How long O Lord, before men will realise that 
the rose of mercy, the forget-me-not of patience, 
the Jily of persuasion avail nothing in dealing 
with such evils. 

The fire and brimstone of righteous indigna- 
tion is the only thing that will purge the world 
of the hell born interest of the liquor traffic and 
all kindred evils. 

The God of the selfish heart is the deity of sentimental- 
ism; the God of the imagination and the taste is the 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 43 

beautiful Grecian Apollo; the God of the understanding 
merely is the cold and unemotional abstraction of the 
deist and the pantheist; but. the God of the conscience is 
the living- and Holy God of Israel, the God of punish- 
ments and atonements. — Shedd. 

; (2) 

Faith. 7:5. 
For 120 years Noah continued, what in the 
eyes of men was an insane work. Some scorned, 
some ridiculed, some ignored the man of faith 
and righteousness. The man of God went stead- 
ily on with his hammering and the men of the 
world went steadily on with their sinning.. One 
morning the rains began their descent and the 
jesters smile of ridicule passed, a look of 
agony succeeded, as the waters became knee 
deep. Noah the spiritual fool, was after all not 
.merely spiritually, but worldly wise. 

We long for the secret of Noah's sublime obe- 
dience in the face of such overwhelming diffi- 
culties. This secret is unveiled iu the Epistle to 
the Hebrews, 11-7. 

' "By faith Noah, being warned of God concern- 
ing things not seen as yet, moved with godly 
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; 
through which he condemned the world, and be- 
came heir of the righteousness which is accord- 
ing to faith."' 

What is faith? Again we turn to the Epistle 
to the Hebrews for our definition, and find faith 
reduced to its simplest form. 

"The substance of things hoped for, the evi- 



44 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

dence of things not seen." 

Faith ig "the substance of things hoped for." 
Faith gives to things now of shadowy hope a 
substance, making them real as if already here 
and grasped. "The evidence of things not seen." 
Faith makes the unseen, the spiritual, become 
real. 

To the man of faith, Heaven, Hell, Judgment, 
Christ, God, are eternal realities, as such have 
their tremendous bearing upon his present life. 

Faith unhesitatingly accepts God's declarations. 
When God said there was to be a flood, the faith 
of Noah made this flood a terrible, present 
reality, although it was a century distant. 

"Now faith is the power by means of which we 
lay down as certain, what is still an object of 
hope, and regard as proved, facts which are still 
unseen." 

Is our faith such that it clearly sees shining 
through all the rush and roar, pettiness and fri- 
volity of present things, the solid reality of future 
things? Does this future with its weight of judg- 
ment and glorv shape our present existence? 

(3) 
Nature The Voice of God. 9:16. 
Physical objects are vocal with spiritual mean- 
ing. 

Common bread speaks of the body of Jesus 
given for us. Common wine speaks of the blood 
of Jesus shed for us. 

Cultivate the habit of seeking out the spiritual 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 45 

meanings of material things. The birds and 
flowers will save you from worry. 

The star spangled skies and flower enameled 
earth will sweetly sing into your soul, u God 
cares." 

In one of his lecture room talks, Beecher thus 
speaks, 

Have you ever, as a part of your obedience to Christ, 
taken time to sit down and think what birds and flowers 
mean? The command of prayer, of meekness, humilty, 
may rank higher in the moral scale, but they are not one 
whit more commands than is this passage a command in 
relation to birds and flowers. Consider. It is not smell, 
it is not admire, it is not enjoy, it is not even look at, it 
is co?isider; and to consider is to ponder, it is to take a 
thing up into your mind and tarn it over and over, that 
you may know what it means. 

May we sit at the feet of Mother Nature and 
learn of her tiie^truths God would have her im- 
part. After a little we shall be borne outward, 
onward, upward, to sit at the feet of our Master, 
and learn of Him who made the birds, and spun 
the lillies 

(*) 
The Supkeme Need A New Creature. 9 : 21. 

A little time since, Noah had witnessed God's 
terrible penalty upon sin; yet here we find him 
getting beastly drunk. It would seem that the 
experience of a deluge ought to have restrained 
the survivors from all future sinning. 

The lesson is taught that no external applica- 
tion, though it be a flood of water or a flood of 
fire, can purge the heart of sin. The remedy for 



46 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

sin is not an outer deluge experience or Sodom 
experience, but an inner Christian experience. 

Salvation is the key-note of the Bible. The 
supreme need of man is spiritual. The supreme 
question with us, as with the Phillipian jailor is, 
"What shall I do to be saved ?*' Saved from the 
bondage, penalty, and remorse of sin. 

We are told that the great necessity is a change 
outside of us, rather than inside of us. 

Better houses, better food, better raiment, fail 
in themselves to make better men. The highest 
state of external civilization may exist with the 
lowest state of internal sensualization. 

The experience of six thousand years shows 
that the saddest condition of soul decay has gone 
hand in hand with the brightest condition of ma- 
terial glory. 

The greatest need in the world is the need of 
Christ in the heart of man. Jesus Christ alone 
can make man into a new creature. The new 
man will make a new world. 

I need a cleansing change within; 

My life must once again begin. 

New hope I need, and youth renewed, 

And more than human fortitude; 

New faith, new love, and strength to cast 

Away the fetters of the past. 

Hartley Coleridge. 

(5) 
God In Human Affairs. 11 : 5. 

God himself came down to see what the chil- 
dren of men were about; ("came down," a phrase 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 47 

used to accommodate himself to our methods of 
expression) God is always in His world. 

God is in the history of nations and in the life 
of the individual. 

God is ever in human affairs, shaping them to 
His eternal purpose. 

Go forth then my countrymen, and all ye sons of 
Adam, go forth in right of Eden's Image Charter and 
subdue the earth. Yea, go on with your gigantic enter- 
prises, capturing and marshaling the forces of nature, 
changing her very face, leveling her mountains, raising 
her "valleys, spauning her continents with your railways, 
mingling her oceans through your canals: go on; for in 
so doing you are really obeying a power mightier than 
your own, and are preparing in the wilderness the way 
of the Lord. Ay, that will be the true Triumphal 
Entry when, amid the kneeling ranks of the nations, 
waving their palm branches and shouting hosannas to 
the Son of Davids, the Jerusalem of a restored earth 
shall lift up her gates, even her everlasting doors, and 
let the King of Glory come in — Boardman. 



BEGINNING OF THE HEBREW RACE. 



Genesis, Chapters 12-25: 10. 

I 

HISTORICAL TRUTHS. 

(1) 
Abraham. 12:1. 

From this point the sacred writer leaves the 
history of the world and through thirty-nine 
chapters dwells on the records of four biograph- 
ies; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the one dis- 
tinguishing feature of whose lives was faith in 
God. 

Through all the remaining portion of the 
scriptures Abraham is the prominent name 
among those taken from Old IV stamen t times. 
In the other books of the Bible there are seven 
references to Adam and eight to Noah, but more 
than one hundred to Abraham. 

Our Lord, Paul, James, and the writer to the 
Hebrews, all devote passages of length to Abra- 
ham. 

"Abram the Hebrew" stands at the head of many a 
great stream of history, like the river of Eden which 
parted into four. Of the leading faiths of the world, 
there are three which cherish his name with equal ven- 
eration; and these three are the only monotheistic faiths. 
To the Jew, the Moslem, and the Christian alike, the 
prophet Abraham forms a common ancestor. — Dykes. 

The least bit of biography regarding so great 
a man is valuable. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS 49 

Of Abraham's forefathers we know scarcely 
more than the names. Terah, Abraham's father, 
seems to have been a farmer; surely his three 
sons were. 

Of his mother we have not the faintest hint. 
It is highly probable to her he owed some of the 
most notable features of his character. 

As women were riot placed in the genealogical 
records, they were soon lost sight of as to name. 

We want to know morp of Abraham than we do; but 
even with the little we know of him, he stands before us 
as a figure, second only to One in the whole history of 
the world. — Max Midler. 

(2) 
Chaldea. 12: 1 . 

Abraham's native country was Chaldea. This 
country next to Egypt was the most remarkable 
and most highly civilized of those times. Chal- 
dea proper was of about 23001) square miles. In 
size about equ d to Holland. 

The city in or near which Abraham was born 
was called "Ur of the Chaldees," thus marking it 
off from other Urs, of which there were several. 
This city was a notable place; its history has re- 
cently been brought to light from the monu- 
ments. 

There was at that time in "Ur" a state of civil- 
ization far above what we would expect. 

Ur contained a library of at least 10,000 vol- 
umes, carefully arranged and numbered. There 
are found among the ruins of Ur, the remains of 
clay tickets, with names and numbers of the 



50 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

books readers desired to take from the library. 

The city of Ur was devoted to the worship of the moon- 
god, called in early times Ur; and the place itself ap- 
pears to have been named after that divinity, 'the city of 
Ur.' The rise of Ur caused the worship of the moon-god 
to become famous and to extend over the whole country, 
the Babylonians ever after esteeming this divinity in 
preference to Shamas, the sun-god; and they always con- 
sidered the moon to be masculine, while sometimes the 
sun was represented as the son of the moon, and at other 
times as a female divinity. — Smith. 

(3) 
Call of Abraham. 12:1. 

For nearly four centuries, that portion of the 
human family having its new beginning after the 
flood, multiplied, spread, and corrupted itself. 

The fullness of time had come for God to in- 
terpose for the preservation of the true religion, 
and to restrain the human race from another 
downward movement that would again engulf 
humanity in destruction. 

Before the coming of Jesus Christ the most 
important event in the moral and spiritual world, 
was the call of Abraham. 

Between the flood and the call of Abraham the 
evil in man's heart seemed to have directed itself 
toward idolatry and sensuality. Such a tendency 
meant the extinction of the worship of the one 
true God. Indeed, it seemed as if all knowledge 
of the one true God was about to be extinguish- 
ed in the earth. 

The significant fact in Abraham's life was, that 
in the midst of universal idolatry he believed in 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 51 

one God, and Him alone did he worship. In 
some way, no doubt with a good deal of strug- 
gling on his part, Abraham camn to know and 
worship the one true God. That the revelation 
of the truth came to him from God himself is 
takeu for granted. Nevertheless it is not proba- 
ble that God by a mere supernatural act raised 
Abraham to the lofty faith he held; Abraham 
had some part in this sublime matter. 

It is easy to conceive his mind agitated by a tremen- 
dous conflict, and pressed by grievous temptations. But 
whatever the preparatory process, it ended in the firm, 
God given conviction that there, was but one God, and 
that he only was to be worshiped. "Here I stand'' we 
can conceive Abraham exclaiming, like Luther after- 
wards; "I cannot do otherwise, God help me."—Blaikie. 

From among all peoples God chose Abraham 
to be the father of a mighty nation, and the 
founder of a greaif religion. To the seed of Ab- 
raham future revelations and communications 
were to be made until Shiloh should come, in 
whom "all the families of the earth were to be 
blessed.' 5 

(*) 

Journey to Canaan. 12:4 

Abraham sets out from Ur of the Ohaldees, 
with Terah, his father, and his tribal train. 
They pass on to Haran, the commercial centre of 
the north-west, about 600 miles away. 

"I see him, but thou canst not, with what faith 
He leaves his gods, his friends, and native soil, 
Ur of Chaldea; passing now the ford 
To Haran. After him a cumbrous train 



52 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

Of herds and flocks, and numerous servitude; 
Not wandering poor, but trusting all his wealth 
With Grod, who called him, in a laud unknown." 

Why the halt was made at Haran is difficult of 
answer. 

Perhaps the infirm condition of Terah forbade 
further progress at that time. Perhaps God 
called this halt to prepare Abraham for his next 
great step, the going forth into Canaan. 

The posessions of Abraham and Lot were at 
least equal to those of Job, 1:3. Abraham took 
all his posessions; no idea of returning seemed 
to have entered his mind. 

The migration from Ur to Haran was along a 
well marked highway. When Abraham left 
Haran he literally "went forth not knowing 
whither he went/' 

To transfer thousands of sheep, oxen, asses, 
camels, servants with tents, furniture and imple- 
ments, was an appalling task, especially when we 
remember this host was to be taken several hun- 
dred miles across the Syrian desert The labor 
and peril involved would have restrained from 
the venture any ordinary man. 

We see them now starting from Haran. Abraham and 
his sister's son, all their substance that they had gather- 
ed heaped high on the backs of their kneeling camels. 
The slaves run along by the camels sides; round about 
them the flocks of sheep and goats, the asses moving un- 
derneath the towering forms of the camels. The chief, 
Abraham, is there amid the stir of movement or resting 
at noon within his black tent, marked out from the rest 
by his coat of brilliant scarlet. The chief's wife, the 
princess of the tribe, is there in her own tent to prepare 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 53 

the usual meal of milk, butter and cakes. The slave or 
child is ready to bring in the red lentil soup for the 
hunter, or to kill the calf for the unexpected guest. — 
Stanley. 

After moving along the edge of a weary desert, 
Abram would finally reach Damascus, a place of 
importance. From here he evidently obtained 
his trusted servant Eliezer. 

leaving Damascus, Abram would journey by 
one of the caravan routes until he reached Ca- 
naan; As yet he did not know this land was to 
be his home, with his sublime spirit of obedience 
he passed over its frontier, down into its centre, 
journeying southward until he reached Snechem; 
here he built his first altar to the Lord. Here 
he received his first intimation that this was the 
land God had called him and his posterity to pos- 
sess. From ShecKem Abraham moves to Bethel, 
twenty miles south. 

(5) 

Sojoukn In Egypt. 12: 10. 
While camping at Bethel, a famine, caused 
probably by lack of rain, blights the pasturage 
and tests the faith of Abraham. 

He has to look on his herd meltitig away, his favorite 
cattle loosing appearance, his servants murmuring and 
obliged to scatter. And in his dreams he must have, 
night after night, seen the old country, the green breadth 
of the land that Euphrates watered, the heavy-headed 
corn bending before the warm airs of his native land; 
but morning by morning he wakes to the same anxieties, 
to the sad reality of parched and burned up pastures, 
shepherds hanging about with gloomy looks, his own 
heart distressed and failing — Dodds. 



54 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

He is on the south side of Canaan near to the 
land of Egypt; into Egypt for a short time he 
will go until the famine has ceased. With flocks, 
herds, and servants he passes over perhaps the 
same route as his great grandchildren in the days 
of Jacob, to the land of the Nile and the pyra- 
mids. 

This visit to Egypt is one of the least satisfac- 
tory portions of Abraham's life. It is easy to 
condemn Abraham, the question comes would 
we of this Christian era act differently or more 
wisely, if put into the conditions that compassed 
Abraham? 

Abraham was at his wits end for the very necessaries 
of life for a great company of servants and cattle, and 
therefore under great excitement. We are so apt to 
make angels of the good men of old, that we need some- 
thing startling to remind us that they were men of like 
passions with ourselves. — Blaikie. 

In committing the act of deceit when he called 
his wife his sister, Abraham was sinful and fool- 
ish. Abraham is not the last great and good 
man who through fear and lack of trust in God, 
has proved a traitor to truth and righteousness. 

(6) 
Separation From Lot. 13: 11. 

Out of Egypt Abraham probably brought in- 
creased wealth; the wealth of Lot was also great. 

As soon as settlement is again made in Canaan, 
they find the pasturage near Bethel is insufficient 
to supply the flocks and herds of both. 

A separation was agreed upon. 






THE BOOK OF GENESIS 55 

With his accustomed generosity Abraham 
gives Lot choice of district. Lot chooses the 
most attractive, the well watered plain of the 
Jordan, near Sodom and Gomorrah. 

(7) 
Rescue of Lot. 14: 16. 

Lot chose Sodom, in so doing he unconscious- 
ly chose troubles. 

The Valley of the Jordan forms part of the 
direct route between the noith and the south, 
between the region of the Euphrates and the 
region of the Nile. The command of the Jor- 
dan Valley was essential for those men of the 
North who desired access to Egypt. 

At a time previous to Lot's settlement in 
Sodom, the Kings of the North had made war on 
the kings of the plain cities and subdued them. 
For twelve years the Canaanite kiugs remain in 
subjection. In the thirteenth year they rebeled. 
In the fouiteenth year the Kings of the North 
descend into the Jordan Valley to regain its con- 
trol. The kings of the plain cities are conquer- 
ed, eveiything capable of removal is carried away 
by the victors. Lot, who does not seem to have 
been engaged in the battle, was taken off with 
other prisoners. 

"One that escaped came and told Abram." He 
lived about twenty miles from the scene. Lot 
had treated Abram meanly; this was nothing 
now, A bram's brother's son must not pass his 
life as a slave. Abram is on good terms with his 
Amorite neighbors, he induces them to join him 



56 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

in his rescue expedition. Arming his own ser- 
vants to the number of three hundred and eigh- 
teen, he starts in pursuit, overtakes the home- 
ward bound invaders, comp'etely conquers them, 
recovers all that was carried off, rescues Lot from 
captivity. 

(8) 
Melchizedek. 14:18 

As Abraham returned towards Hebron he was 
met by Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the 
most high God. 

Who he was, how he came to possess the name 
Melchizedek, "king of righteousness," where Sa- 
lem, the city of "peace" was where he ruled? 
How he came to be priest as well as king, a priest 
of the most high God instead of a priest of Baal? 
Who were his forefathers? Such questions puz- 
zle us. 

He had preserved the religion of the one true 
God, and had l ejected all the idolatrous practices 
that had grown up and were flourishing en all 
sides of him. 

It seems probable that Salem was the place 
afterwards known as Jerusalem. If so, it was 
only twenty miles from Hebron, thus Abram and 
Melchizedek were most likely known [to each 
other. 

Melchizedek may have been the spiritual in- 
structor of Abraham. If we knew all the circum- 
stances, this narrative so mysterious might be 
jDlain, 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 57 

What made Melchizedek greater than Abram 
must remain wrapped in mystery. 

Abraham recognizes him as his spiritual su- 
perior, accepts his blessing and pays him tithes. 

He bears a title which the Jews in after ages 
recognize as pointing to their own Messiah 

(9) 

Ishmael. 16: 15. 

To Ishmael, the son of Abram, the Arabs proudly trace 
tiieir pedigree. Through Ishmael they trace Abraham 
as their father. In Mohammed the Arabians see the 
fulfilment of the blessing of Abram and they have pre- 
vailed upon a large part of the world to believe the same, 
and to-day the greatest rival Christianity has is Moham- 
medanism. This religion which like Christianity has 
sprung from Abram. Through Ishmael, Abram's son, 
came Mohammedanism, as through Isaac, Abram's son, 
came Christianity. T4ie -Jews aud the Arabs are perhaps 
the only people on earth who ean trace back their pedi- 
gree for 4000 years. — Pier son. 

(10) 

Divine Covenant. 17:7- 

God's covenant with man signifies His solemn 
engagement to be to man and do for man certain 
specific things. The divine covenant can be car- 
ried out only on the condition that man accepts 
what God pledges himself to give, and obeys 
God's commandments. 

God now renews his covenant already made 
with Abraham. The three promises of God are 
here expanded iuto greater clearness and fulness 
than before. First, the promise of the seed is 
expanded into the promise that Abraham shall 



58 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

be the father of many nations; as a sign of this 
his name is changed from Abram "exalted father" 
to Abraham, "father of a multitude." Next the 
promise of blessing is made more full. God says 
he will be a God unto him and his seed after 
him; and third, the land was again pledged to 
him and his posterity. 

The rite of circumcision is now introduced. 

The monuments of Egypt show that circumcis- 
ion did not originate on this occasion, the custom 
was practiced in Egypt before Abraham's time. 

It seems right in God's sight to rescue circumcision 
from the corrupt uses to which it had beeu put in pagan 
service, and give it a new and holy character in connec- 
tion with his own people. It implied that God is the 
true author of physical life and its increase, also the only 
quickener of a holy and consecrated life. It taught that 
what is born of the flesh can only be flesh. It suggested 
that it is by the painful renunciation of earthly desire 
and natural self confidence man must be surrendered to 
God's service, as his fit instrument for gracious ends. 
Finally, it seemed to point forward to one pure and 
superhuman birth, through which alone the fatal chain 
that links in one the sinful generations of mankind could 
be severed, and a new foundation of salvation and bless- 
ing opened for the fallen race. — Dykes. 

Circumcision became the pledge that God 
would make good all he promised. On the part 
of Abraham and his seed it signified the accept- 
ance of what the divine covenant promised and 
commanded. This rite also became the pledge 
that Abraham and those accepting this sign, en- 
gage to be faithful to all the obligations the di- 
vine covenants may include. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 59 

(ii) 

Sodom and Gomorrah. 19 : 24. 

The genealogy of the people of the cities of 
the plains is given in Gen. 10 : 15-20. 

Excepting the fact that they were Canaanites 
and that their country was the limit of Ganaanite 
territory on the south-east, we know nothing. 
The group of cities were five in number, each 
with a king or sheik of its own. Sodom seems 
to have been the principal one of them. 

The historian gives no minute description of 
the reeking wickedness of Sodom. This wicked- 
ness reveals itself by an abominable story. 

With childlike intimacy and profound rever- 
ence Abraham makes intercession to the Lord on 
behalf of Sodom. 

Abraham recognizes that sin should be punish- 
ed, that God has a right to punish sin. Abra- 
ham appeals to the justice of God, asking that 
those who have not partaken of the sins of Sodom 
shall not suffer like those who have. A city that 
has not within its borders ten righteous men, 
is doomed. Though Abraham does not pre- 
vail with God to spare the city, his intercession 
causes the Lord to make special provision for Lot. 
The Judge of the Earth does rightly. 

(12) 
Isaac. 21:3. 

The life and career of Isaac present but few 
points of interest. 

He was a gentle, contemplative, retiring soul. 



60 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

He had bis father's reverence and faith, but lack- 
ed his father's force of character. 

Isaac probably had a weak body, this may ac- 
count for his achieving but little. 

Fifty years before his death he is represented 
as a bedriddeu invalid He lived to sen Esau 
and Jacob old men, and Joseph sold into Egypt, 
yet during the last half century of his life he dis- 
appears from his family annals. The supreme 
point of interest in Isaac's character was his faith; 
thus he received the renewal of the promises that 
God had given to his father, Abraham. 

(13) 

Sacrifice of Isaac. 22: 10. 

Years upon years of quiet life had passed away. The 
trials of former days gradually drifted into the back- 
ground of memory — his leaving Ur, his breakiug away 
from Haran, his long disappointment under the delay of 
the promise, his agony at the fate of Lot, his distress at 
parting with Ishmael; and now it seemed that the even- 
ing of life was to be serene and unclouded, and that his 
sun would go down in peace. Suddenly there shot out 
from the calm sky a bolt more terrific than any that had 
yet appeared, and in his old age Abraham was exposed 
to a trial in comparison of which all that he had hitherto 
experienced seemed light indeed. — Blaikie. 

This act was the supreme act of Abraham's 
life, the crowning deed. In this act, the faith 
and trust in God which he had been gathering 
through the years bur^t forth in all its regal 
splendor. 

It is sometimes said that asking Abraham to 
do this deed, was a crime in God. To remove 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 61 

all suspicion of such from God, note one or two 
facts. Abraham lived in a day when a man's 
power over the life of his son was absolute. He 
lived also in a day when human sacrifices were 
common. So what God asked of Abraham did 
not at all clash with his conscience, or sense of 
what was right. It merely meant to Abraham a 
supreme duty, a final test of his obedience. God, 
mark you, did not require Abraham to shed the 
blood of his son, he required only that Abraham 
surrender his will, and do what God commanded 
without questioning. This being done God said, 
"Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou 
hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from 
me." This is all God wanted; Abraham's will. 
He wanted not the * blood of Isaac. God's act 
here is in harmony with God's perfect char- 
acter. 

(14) 
Makkiage of Isaac. 24 : 67. 
Isaac was now forty years old. Through him 
the promised seed must come. Abraham was 
impressed that it was now time for Isaac to enter 
upon married life. The surrounding idolatrous 
peoples could furnish no woman suitable for the 
wife of Abraham's son. To his own people in 
Haran he sends his trusted servant Eliezer, 
charging him to seek and bring back one fitted 
for the wife of his son. Eliezer returns with a 
woman whom God had selected for Isaac's wife. 
Isaac weds Rebekah. Rebekah with all her fail- 
ings is one of the greatest women of history. 



62 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

(15) 
Death of Abraham. 25:8. 
"And his sons Isaac and Ishmael, buried him 
in the cave of Machpelah," 

The one spot of earth which Abraham could call his 
own, the pledge which he left of the perpetuity of his in- 
terest in "the land wherein he was a stranger" was the 
sepulchre which he bought with four hundred shekels of 
silver, from Ephron the Hittite. It was a rock with a 
double cave, ("Machpelah'') standing amid a grove of 
olives or ilexes, on the slope of the table-land where the 
first encampment had been made. Round this venerable 
cave the reverence of successive ages and religions has 
now raised a series of edifices which, while they preserve 
its identity, conceal it entirely from view. But there it 
still remains, within the Mussulman Mosque, within the 
Christian church, within the massive stone enclosure 
built by the Kin^s of. Jndah, is beyond any reasonable 
question, the last resting place of Abraham and Sarah, 
of Isaac and Rebekah; "and there Jacob buried Leah;'' and 
thither, with all the pomp of funeral state, his own em- 
balmed body was brought from the palaces of Egypt. Of all 
the great patriarchal family, Rachel alone is absent. — 
Stanley. 

The cave of Machpelah was ever a sacred spot 
to the patriarchs. 

"The Eden of their earth lay all around 
Machpelah: there Grod came down in the cool 
Of even to walk with them, aud all the ground 
Was therefore holy— therefore beautiful; 
And their free spirits panted for the time 
When they should soar to an unwithering clime. 
To them it ceased to be a place of death; 
It was the porch within whose solemn glooms 
They stood till the temple opened; the sweet breath 
Of Heaven here soothed their hearts; the lovely blooms 
Of that fair land refreshed their drooping eyes; 
And glimpses came to them from other skies." 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. . 63 

II 

RELIGIOUS TRUTHS. 

(I.) 

Obeying God. 12 : 4. 

The character of Abraham is sublime in its un- 
questioning obedience. 

"His not to reason why 
His not to make reply" 

His but to obey God. 

Obeying God ever means gain, disobeying God 
ever means loss. 

"No man hath left father or mother, houses or 
land, for my sake," says Christ, "but he shall re- 
ceive a hundred-fold reward here and everlasting 
life beyond." 

We may fix our eyes on the disconnected 
phrase "get thee out" and overlook the promised 
blessing. 

To every command of God is attached a rich 
reward. 

If the command is "get thee out," the promise 
is "I will make of thee a great nation, and make 
thy name great." 

If the command is "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ," the promise is ' k thou shalt be saved." 

If the command is "Sell that thou hast," the 
promise is "thou shalt have treasure in Heaven." 

We may fail to understand God's reasons for 
His commands; the reason belongs to God, the 
obeying belongs to us. The General is under 
no obligation to give the private a reason for 



64 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

every move. The General is under obligation to 
know that the move made is the wise and right 
one. 

Life is an education; the process of develop- 
ing, drawing out the divine qualities of the soul. 
The world is a school-room, and our "school 
hours/' as Carlyle says, "are all the days and 
nights of our existence. " 

The history of Abraham, the history of the 
Hebrew race, the history of all human beings tes- 
tifies to a God who is ever educating humanity. 
The condition of Abraham's divine education was 
one with ours, oledienee. 

God can do nothing with, nor for, a disobedi- 
ent soul. 

The kingdom of God, the reign of God, the 
glory of God comes into the soul and into the 
world in proportion as humanity obeys God. 

Phil anion had gone to see the world, and he had seen 
it; and he had learnt that God's Kingdom was not a 
kingdom of fanatics yelling for a doctrine, but of willing, 
loving, obedient hearts. — Kingsley. 

A presence as solemn as ever Abraham saw walks with 
us; a voice talks with us. Listen. You hear nothing; 
but the silence is full of Grod and speaks. What says 
He in this holy silence? To each soul it first announces 
the great call: "Arise, get thee out of thy country, and 
from thy kingdom, and from thy father's house, unto a 
land that I will show thee." What land? The broad 
land of uprightness and peace. And if we arise and move 
at the instigation, we shall hear that voice not less really 
than Abraham heard it, "This is the way, walk ye in 
it." — Mercer. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS 65 

(2) 

WoRLDLINESS. IS I 12. 

Lot is representative of a large class whose 
chief end is getting on, getting on, on earth. 
Whose chief question is. will it pay? They are 
swayed wholly by worldly considerations; they 
have little or no realization of spiritual realities. 
To such, goldlinessis more thau godliness, dollars, 
more than angels 

To this class only those things are real which 
they can stub their toe against and bump their 
head against. What cannot be measured, weigh- 
ed and baled has no value. Where the spiritual 
eyed see beauty, glory and God, the worldling 
sees only what rust 'will corrupt and time devour. 
He scrapes together dollars and cents, houses 
and lands, material possessions, the world calls 
him rich. In reality he is unspeakably poorer 
than Job, when the patriarch was bereft of all 
earthly possessions but a few pieces of pottery 
and an ash heap. 

There is no wealth that will abide save soul 
wealth. The man that has all else and lacks this 
is poor; the soul that lacks all else and has this 
is rich. 

When th^ question, what shall we eat, drink 
and wear becomes the absorbing question, it 
curses life, changing what God meant for a pal- 
ace into a pig sty. 

Godliness is profitable for this world. Now 
and here to be spiritually minded pays. The 



66 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

worldling uot only sacrifices his future to the 
present, but misses the best things in the present 
world. 

To determine your life solely by the prospect of worldly 
success is to risk the loss of the best things in life. For 
happily the essential elements of the highest happiness 
are as open to the poor as to the rich, to the unsuccessful 
as to the successful — love, wife, children, congenial and 
educating friendships, the knowledge of what the best 
men have done and the wisest have said; the pleasure 
and impulse, the sentiments and beliefs which result 
from our knowledge of the heroic deeds done from year 
to year among men; the enlivening influence of examples 
that tell on all men alike, young and old, rich and poor; 
the insight and strength of character that are won in the 
hard wrestle with life; the growing consciousness that 
God is in the human life, that He is ours and we are 
His — these things and all that makes human life of value 
are universal as air and sunshine, but must be missed by 
those who make the world their object. — Dodds. 

(3) 

Believing God. 15 : 6. 

This is the first time the word believed occurs 
in the Bible. 

Believed means supported, sustained, strength- 
ened. Abraham believed God; supported, sus- 
tained, strengthened himself in God's promises. 

Paul, speaking of Abraham said, "that he stag- 
gered not at the promise of God through unbe- 
lief." 

Experience and appearances were against the 
promise. Abraham believed God, "staggered 
not." The promise was taken by Abraham as a 
fulfilment. He accepted God's promise as some- 
thing already done. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS 67 

We wait until the child is born and say, "Lord, 
I believe," but this is not faith, it is sight. Abra- 
ham said, "Lord, I believe," then waited for the 
child to be born according to God's promise; 
this is not sight, it is faith. There had been 
men of mighty faith before Abraham, Enoch and 
Noah were such, but the faith of Abraham was 
of such a sublime degree that to him was accord- 
ed the dignity of becoming the Father of the 
Faithful, the father of all whose supreme char- 
acteristic is faith. 

At first thought we would deem believing God 
the most common of Christian virtues. Alas, 
there is no virtue rarer. 

The vast majority of Christians are far from be- 
lieving God^s promises are absolutely so. We 
have a trembling belief that perhaps what God 
says may turn out to be as he says. 

Few of us ever get beyond this feeble believ- 
ing. 

When a soul completely accepts God's promises 
as if already realized, we deem him insane; his 
enthusiasm, his joy, his earnestness seems to us 
as the offspring of one beside himself. 

"When God touches our eyes as he touched the eyes of 
Elisha's servant, so that he saw the invisible, even the 
mountain near him full of horses and chariots round a- 
bout Elisha, so we too will see all our own life and all 
history full of God's fulfilled promises round about us. 
As Milton's archangel spoke, — 

"To confirm his words, out flew 
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs of mighty 
cherubim," — 

so God speaks a promise, and out fly millions of facts and 



68 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

experiences to confirm his words. Whose faith does not 
grow stronger when he stands among God's promises ful- 
filled, and looking at the myriads of Christians, searches 
in vain for one who can say, "I trusted in God's prom- 
ises, and they failed me;" but hears one great anthem 
from all who ever trusted in God, without one discordant 
voice, singing ' the old, old story,'' that Christ lias nev- 
er failed one person who trusted in him?" 

"There are men of Abraham's type in every age. 
They are the great witnesses for God and the spiritual. 

There are men whose genius it is to manage, they are 
found by thousands in business spheres. There are men 
whose genius it is to know, they are found by hundreds 
in scientific spheres. There are men whose genius it is 
to believe, they are found in units and tens in religious 
spheres, but they are the salt of the earth, the light of 
the world." 

"Lord increase our faith." 

(4) 
Realizing God. 17 : 3. 

Enoch, Noah, Abraham and the other patri- 
archs walked with God, talked with Gcd, lived 
with God. This sounds strange, weird, to the 
nineteenth century man. 

God was their friend and everlasting portion. 

We have much the patriarchs lacked. 

We lack much the patriarchs had. We lack 
God, we have lost God. We have politely bowed 
him out of his world and thus out of our lives. 

We call God "force." "A something that 
makes for righteousness." "The universal soul." 

In the place of God we have put law. Ab- 
stract, cold, headless, heartless law. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 69 

We Lave deified law, and bowing down say, "O 
great is law." 

Keligion is having a sense of God. A soul is 
religious in proportion as its sense of God is 
strong and keen. God's presence was a sublime 
reality to Abraham. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. They 
saw God, heard Him, they seemed almost to 
touch Him. God lived and moved and had His 
being in the midst of their human existence. 

The thunder was his voice, the lightning was 
the flash of his eye. 

Hear how these men of old talked about God. 

"He sendeth forth his commandment; bis word 
runneth very swiftfy, 

He giveth snow like wool; he scattereth the 
hoar-frost like ashes." 

Back to the patriarchs, O nineteenth century 
soul; learn of them ye souls filled with worldly 
wisdom of our times. Abraham, far back in the 
dawn of history, had a deep, keen sense of God. 

We have orphaned ourselves, we have lost our 
Father, we have lost our God. 

(5) 
God Accessible. 19 : 29. 
In God we live, move and have our being. 
God is not far off but near, not only near but ac- 
cessible. 

God can be reached; the medium through 
which we reach God is prayer. Prayer is the 
soul turning toward God, opening to God, calling 
upon God. 



70 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

We bear long drawn out sermons, and read 
long drawn out dissertations on "The Philosophy 
of Prayer." 

One sometimes marvels at the simplicity of 
prayer as taught by Christ and the complicacy of 
prayer as taught by man. 

u God be merciful to me a sinner/- The pub- 
lican's prayer has never been surpassed as an 
illustration of the reason for prayer. 

An analysis of the .publican's prayer reveals a 
believing, needv soul and a hearing, supplying 
God. 

Man prays because he is man. To pray is nat- 
ural, reasonable. 

Man is human, limited, therefore needy, his 
help mu^t come from outside of self, from one 
greater than man. 

Our human calls for the super-human, our 
finite for the infinite. 

Prayer is not a strange act, it would be strange 
could there be no pra\ er. 

A prime condition of having our prayers an- 
swered is our doing to the utmost of our ability. 
'•God helps them who help themselves" is a trite 
but true saying. Many people deem prayer a 
substitute for work. A lazy soul's prayers are 
contemptible mumblings, idle vaporings. God 
never answers such. 

, The report of a church in Mississippi reads as 
follows: "Since your last meeting we have bap 
tized none, received by letter none, given for state 



tte 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 71 

missions blank, for foreign missions blank, for 
ministerial support blank. Pray for us brethren 
that we may hold oat to the find." 

Praying for such, whether individuals or 
churches, is as useless as to pray God to put a 
new set of limbs upon one who deliberately cut 
the legs from his body. 

"More tilings are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain ever, night and day; 
For what are men better than sheep or goats, 
That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer 
Both for themselves and those who call them friends? 
For so the whole round earth is every way 
Bound by gold chains about the feet of Grod " 
. To your knees therefore, men and women cumbered 
with much serving at home or in the market place. To 
your knees in the secret place, young men and women 
beginning life's voyage. To your knees, fathers and 
mothers in Israel, whose hairs are white like the almond- 
trees in blossom. — Burrell. 

Let us pray. 

(G). 
Self Saceifice. 22 : 10. 

The authorized version reads, "God did tempt 
Abraham." The literal means tried, proved, 
tempt usually bears the sense of exciting to sin, 
which is entirely wrong when applied to God. 
God tempts no mau. The Arabic version ren- 
ders it correctly. "Gcd did prove Abraham." 

God desired not the blocd of Isaac. He de- 
sired the will of Abraham. 

Self sacrifice is yielding our will to Gud. 



72' THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

"God intended what actually happened, that Abra- 
ham's sacrifice should be complete and that human sac- 
rifice should receive a fatal blow. So far from introduc- 
ing into Abraham's mind erroneous ideas about sacrifice, 
this incident finally dispelled from his mind such ideas 
and permanently fixed in his mind the conviction that 
the sacrifice God seeks is the devotion of the living soul, 
not the consumption of a dead body." 

Christ is the light of man, light reveals, in the 
light of Christ we see what is meant by "thy 
will be done." Christ's will was merged into 
the Father's will, their wills were one. In this 
world Jesus moved about in perfect harmony 
with God, in perfect reliance upon God, in per- 
fect surety that God's will was unerringly good. 

No soul finds the glory of itself, or the glory of 
God, until it climbs the mount of sacrifice and 
lays its will upon the altar of God, saying as said 
the Divine Man, *'not my will but thine be done." 

Christ said, "My peace and joy I leave with 
you." He had previously said, "My cross I 
leave with you." To have the peace and joy 
without the cross was impossible then, it is im- 
possible now. Doing the will of God regardless 
of the cost is the secret of a joyful, peaceful, vic- 
torious life. 

Breathe on me, Breath of God, 

Fill me with life anew, 
That I may love what thou dost love, 

And do what thou wouldst do. 

Breathe on me, Breath of God, 

Until my heart is pure, 
Until with thee I will one will, 

To do or to endure. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 73 

Breath on me, Breath of God, 

Till I am wholly thine, 
Till all the earthly part of me 

Glows with thy fire divine. 
Breath on me, Breath of God, 

So shall I never die, 
But live with thee the perfect life 

Of thine eternity. 

Edwin Hatch. 

(7) 
Meditation. 24: 63. 

Luther said, to live the Christian life requires 
prayer, meditation, and temptation. 

A robust spiritual life needs meditation no less 
than prayer and temptation. 

"The world is too much with us." We are too 
much with the world, too little with self and God. 

If we would know God and self we must make 
their acquaintance; not in the market place nor 
crowded street, but in solitude, "far from the 
madding crowd." 

The body must be insulated ere it can be sur- 
charged with electricity. The soul must be in- 
sulated ere it can be surcharged with the power 
of God. 

Only in the sacredness of inward silence does the soul 
truly meet the secret hiding God. The strength of re- 
solve, which afterwards shapes life and mixes itself with 
action, is the fruit of those sacred, solitary moments 
when we meet God alone. — F. W. Robertson. 

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what- 
soever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, 
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are love- 
ly, whatsoever things are of good report," meditate on 
these things. 



BEGINNING OF THE HEBREW TRIBES. 



Genesis, Chapters 25-36. 

I 
HISTOBICAL TRUTHS. 

(1) 
Esau. 25: 25. 

Esau was a restless, self indulgent soul, a man 
who lived merely for the present moment. His 
only aim to satisfy his bodily wants. 

He was generous, jovial, bold and reckless, "a 
man of the field/' 

Esau lacked those substantial qualities, out of 
which much can be made. 

The race of Edom which sprang from him 
were like him, unstable, unruly, unreliable. 

It has been emphasized that the chief fault in 
Esau's character was his inconstancy. 
"That one error 

Fills him with faults; makes him run through 

all the sins." 
His nature was too shallow for anything of 
spiritual worth to take rootage in. 

A man wholly unfit to inherit the birthright 
from Isaac, or to be the medium through which 
God could carry out the promises made to Abra- 
ham. 

(2) 
Jacob, 25:26. 

Jacob was a man of domestic habits, "a dwell- 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS 75 

er in tents," given up to the pasturing of the 

flocks and care of the family. 

There is an ancient proverb which says : 

A child may have more of his mother than her bless- 
ing. 

Jacob inherited from his mother a strong tend- 
ency to shrewduess and sharp practicing, also in- 
domitable tenacity. No hardships turn him 
aside from his purpose. 

In Jacob we see the foreshadowing of the Jew 
as known in history. 

That same timid, cautious watchfulness we know so 
well in Shylock, of Venice, and Isaac of York. But no 
less in the nobler side of his career do we trace the germ 
of the unbroken endurance, the undying resolution 
which keeps the nation alive still, even in its present 
outcast condition, and which was the basis in its bright- 
est days of the heroic zeal, long suffering, and hope of 
Moses, David, Jeremiah, the Maccabees, of the twelve 
apostles, and the tirst martyr Stephen. — -Stanley. 

The toweling quality of Jacob's character, 
making him unspeakably greater than Esau is 
his deep religious nature, his intense desire for 
the friendship of God, his keen sensibility to 
spiritual influences. Jacob with all his defects is 
the man God can use, can make much out of. 
The choosing of Jacob and the rejection of Esau 
had its basis, not in the arbitrary willing of God, 
but in the character of the men. 

(3) 
Selling The Birthright. 25:31. 
Esau delighted in the excitement of the chase, 
he was a stirring hunter. 



76 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

One day returning home from the field in a 
hungry and exhausted state, Esau finds Jacob 
with a dish of soup or pottage made of red len- 
tils, a species of pulse belonging to the pea tribe, 
of a yellowish red color. 

It is not the custom to have food already pre- 
pared in an Eastern home as it is with us. There 
was nothing cooked, except Jacob's pottage. 
Esau would have been compelled to wait a long 
time in his exhausted condition, before obtaining 
food. 

The hungry, impulsive and impatient Esau 
cries out, "Let me swallow, pray, some of the 
red, this red." 

"Therefore was his name called Edom." Edom 
means red. 

The quick witted Jacob sees an opportunity to 
snatch the birthright from Esau. For a long 
time Jacob had eagerly coveted the birthright, 
and patiently waited his chance to grasp it. 

This birthright belonged to the first-born. It 
carried with it a double portion of the household 
estate, and headship over the family and tribe. 
In the case of Abraham and his descendants the 
birthright included the spiritual blessings of the 
covenant. 

Jacob says to the exhausted Esau, "Sell me 
this day thy birthright." 

This Esau agrees to do for a mess of the smok- 
ing pottage. 

Jacob knows that Esau fed, would not be Esau 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 77 

hungry. Esau, when his hunger is satisfied, may 
change his mind, Jacob will therefore bind the 
bargain by an oath, before his brother has eaten. 

The bargain is closed and bound by an oath. 

"And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of 
lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, 
and went his way : so Esau despised his birth- 
right." 

In studying this transaction, it would be a great mis- 
take to take our leave of it at this point. Does the Bible 
represent that this fraudulent bargain was valid, and 
that by it Jacob gained his title to succeed Isaac as the 
head of the Abrahamic people, and to be the ancestor of 
the Redeemer of mankind? Esau's act of transfer was of 
course valid, provided Jacob had been an innocent pur- 
chaser. In the circumstances, did the title pass? Our 
traditions assume that it passed, and the assumption 
surrounds the case with ethical difficulties. But the 
Bible represents, I am sure, that no title passed. This is 
clearly affirmed in Genesis 32:3-23 and 33:1-16. In 
these passages we learn that Jacob, on his return to Pal- 
estine, recognized Esau as still in possession of the birth- 
right, and all Jacob's family joined with him in the re- 
cognition. They acknowledged that Esau was lord, and 
that they were his servants. In the meantime God had 
encouraged Jacob with hopes for the distant future ; but 
as long as Jacob claimed title from his bargain with Esau, 
God gave him no shred of possession in the birthright. 
It was not till Jacob had clearly renounced that claim, 
and had made reparation to Esau for having asserted it, 
that God began to put him in possession. At Isaac's 
death, Esau was still recognized as the superior; for we 
read that "Esau and Jacob" buried him (35: 29), the 
chief being mentioned first, as in 25 : 9. The Bible does 
not say that Esau lost the birthright by Jacob's cheating 
him out of it. It does not say that Jacob, by attempting 
to steal the blessing that was designed for Esau, actually 



78 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

secured any good for himself, or took away any good from 
Esau. Esau lost the birthright because he despised it. 
He showed this in agreeing to the bargain. But he also 
showed it in the habits of life he adopted. Of his own 
free will he abandoned the promised land, thus eventual- 
ly losing all his claims there (Gen. 36 : 6-8). Meanwhile 
Jacob, after wasting half his life in a b >otless contest 
with God over the matter, at last surrendered all his false 
claims, and let God lead him; and God led him into the 
possession of all the blessings that Esau had abandoned. 
— Willis J. Be? cher. 

(±) 

Jacob Obtains The Birthright Blessing. 27: 30. 

About twenty-five years — or as some reckon, 
forty-five — pass away. 

Isaac, realizing that because of .infirmities of 
age be is unfit to care for tbe family, wishes to 
give over this burden to Esau. Isaac purposes 
to bestow the birthright blessing upon Esau, mak- 
ing him the head of the family. 

Jacob remembers his purchase. Bebekah re- 
members the prophecy that the elder should 
serve the younger. The two fear that the covet- 
ed gift may slip from them. They will not trust 
God, but take the matter in their own hands. 
They obtain the birthright by fraud. 

While Esau was hunting for venison for the 
birthright feast, Bebekah disguised Jacob by 
covering his smooth hands and neck with goat's 
hair, thus making him resemble the hairy Esau, 
and with two kids, cooked like venison, Jacob 
comes before his blind father and receives the 
birthright blessings. 






THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 79 

How Isaac could deliberately bestow this blessing on 
Esau, or on one whom he believed to be Esau, knowing 
the oracle which gave the preference to Jacob, is very 
strange. We are liable to lay all the blame on Rebekah, 
and to think of Isaac as the innocent dupe of her ingen- 
ious wiles. But all the parties were grievously to 
blame: Isaac and Esau for planning to reverse the di- 
vine decree; Rebekah and Jacob for using the devil's 
weapons to accomplish God's plans. If Rebekah and Ja- 
cob had had a grain of Abraham's faith when about to 
offer up Isaac, they would have felt sure that even at the 
last moment God would intervene to bring the blessing 
to the predestined recipient. It was want of faith in God 
coupled with the impatience that could not wait till he 
was ready, that precipitatedjnatters, and gave birth to 
the lamentable fraud. We cannot but feel for Esau and 
Isaac, but they, too, were in a most serious transgression 
— planning to defeat a divine purpose and reverse a di- 
vine choice. — Blaikie. 

(5) 
Jacob at Bethel. 28 : 19. 

Esau finding he has been cheated out of his 
father's blessing, vows vengeance on Jacob at 
his father's death. Rebekah and Jacob thinking 
Isaac near his end, and believing Esau will carry 
out his threat of murder, plan for Jacob to es- 
cape to his uncle Laban, who lives in Padan-aram. 

Jacob sets out for Padan-aram, presumably in 
search of a wife. 

"He left in a very different manner from Abraham's 
servant, when he undertook the same journey in behalf 
of Isaac. An imposing cavalcade of camels, a suitable 
body of servants, with all manner of wedding gifts and 
other gifts, accompanied the one; the other unattended 
by a single servant, with no weapon but his staff, with 
no store of jewelry to win consideration for him on his 



80 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

arrival. Whence the extraordinary difference between 
Abraham's servant and Isaac's servant? It might be 
enough to answer that everything was thrown into con- 
fusion and dilapidation by sin " 

Jacob journeys northward; on the second or 
third evening of his flight he came to the hills of 
Bethel. 

As the sun was descending he finds himself 
toiling up a rocky path, which looked like a vast 
staircase of recks and crags stretching from earth 
to heaven. 

It is perhaps too late in the da} 7 to enter the 
city, the gates closing at sundown. Gathering 
some of the suriounding stones, he covers them 
with grass and makes himself a pillow. With 
his head on a stone, and a corner of his dress 
thrown over his face to protect it from the moon, 
he sleeps and drearns. 

It would seem during his journey some change 
for the better had come over his nature. 

The dream was super-natural, yet it may have had a 
natural basis, and may have been connected with the 
upward aspirations which it is likely he had began to 
cherish. —BlaiMe. 

He dreams of a ladder reaching from earth to 
heaven, at its foot is the wearied, troubled pil- 
grim, at its top, the covenant God. 

Angelic messengers pass up and down; God 
speaks to the lonely exile, using the language ot 
the covenant promise, which had been used in 
speaking to Abraham and Isaac. 

God assures Jacob that the land on which he 
lay should be his and his seed's. His seed 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 81 

should be as the dust of the earth. In him and 
his seed all the families of the earth would be 
blessed. God assures him that he would be with 
him in Haran, would keep him and bring him 
back to Canaan, and never forsake him until all 
promised was fulfilled. This assurance never 
left Jacob. 

Jacob would commemorate the events of his 
Bethel experience. 

He would also dedicate himself to the God 
from whom his mercies and help were to be re- 
ceived. 

The stone used for his pillow shall be a me- 
morial of this vision. The oil poured upon the 
stone shall be the sign that I, Jacob, consecrate 
myself to the service and glory of God. 

(6) . ' 
Jacob At Haran. 29 : 13. 

Moving north from Bethel Jacob passes on to 
the Jordan; years after he vividly remembers 
that his staff constituted his possessions as he 
crossed the ford. Thence he proceeds on his 
lonely journey through the Syrian desert; finally 
he arrives at Haran. 

In a green and flowery valley of Mesopotamia, a num- 
ber of shepherds had gathered their flocks together to 
give them water from the well. The little stone houses 
of the village, shaped like bee-hives, could be seen clus- 
tered upon a rocky part of the hill above them. A ruin- 
ed castle now marks the spot, with little houses round 
it, of the same strange shape. The sun blazed down 
from a cloudless blue sky, for it was mid-day, the time 



82 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

when the shepherds should give their sheep water, and 
they had them ready waiting by the well, resting among 
the grass, in the shadows cast by the huge plane trees 
that grew close by. The men were strong and wild-look- 
ing, with dusky faces and ragged cloaks, and each had a 
long stick in his hand and a knife, club, and sling at 
his leather belt, and they talked together, waiting until 
all the flocks were gathered before opening the well. 
Suddenly one of them turned to his companions with a 
shout of surprise, as he pointed with bare arm to the 
figure of a man that had appeared upon the ridge of a 
hill. As h<^ came near they saw he was a stranger. He 
was dressed in a rough cloak striped with broad bands of 
yellow and brown, that covered him from head to heel, 
and falling open in front, showed a loose inner garment 
of gray wool girdled up round his waist with a strong belt 
of red leather, and they knew that he had walked some 
distance. The strong sandals strapped upon his feet and 
the small leather bottle and black goat-skin bag for food, 
that hung frDin his shoulder, told them that he was a 
traveller upon a long journey. A kerchief of striped red 
and yellow, like a little ^hawl, covered his brown hair, 
and fell back with a corner drooping over each stioulder 
to protect his ears and neck from the sun, and it was 
held in its place by a soft black cord of camel's hair 
bound round his head, that made the kerchief into a 
kind of cap. As he came nearer they could see that he 
was a strong man of about forty years of age, perhaps the 
son of a rich shepherd of the South Country. His face 
was dark and ruddy, and his large brown eyes had a 
look of dreamy thonghtfulness. — Bird. 

This is Jacob; he learns from the shepherds 
gathered round the well that he is near to his 
uncle Laban ? s home. Soon he sees Rachel, his 
cousin, corning to water her father's flock. It 
was the custom then as now, for the uumarried 
daughters of chiefs to lead the flocks to pasture 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 83 

and water. 

Jacob reveals himself to Rachel as her cousin. 
He spends a month with his uncle Laban, In 
the meantime Laban discerns that it will pay him 
to keep his nephew. 

Now begin those years of selfishness on La- 
ban's part and toil on Jacob's part. 

Jacob finds himself in surroundings where all 
his craftiness must be used, if he would contend 
with Laban, a master in deceit. 

Jacob abides at Haran, toils like a slave and 
endures Laban's contemptible dealings, because 
of his love for Rachel. 

The story of Jacob's love for Rachel is the first 
love story in the Bible. Never was the passion 
of love more f ally and beautifully described than 
in the words, 

"And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and 
they seemed unto him but a few days, for the 
love he ha 1 to her." 

At the end of twenty years of service with La- 
ban, a divine communication came to Jacob com- 
manding him to leave Haran and return to Ca- 
naan. 

Jacob was becoming too contented in that strange land. 
Like Ulysses and his crews, he was in danger of forget- 
ting the land of his birth; the tents of his father; and the 
promise of which he was the heir. He was fast loosing 
the pilgrim spirit, and settling into a citizen of that far 
country. His mean and crafty arts to increase his wealth 
were honey-combing his spirit, and eating out his nobler 
nature, prostituting it to the meanest ends. His wives, 



84 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

infected with the idolatry of their father's house, were in 
danger of corrupting the minds of his children, and how- 
then would fare the holy seed, destined to give the world 
the messages of God? It was evident that his nest must 
be broken up in Haran; that he must be driven back in- 
to the pilgrim life, to become a stranger and sojourner, as 
his father's were. And this was another step nearer the 
moment when he became an Israel, a prince with God. — 
F. B. Meyer. 

Watching his opportunity when Laban was 
busy shearing his sheep, Jacob, gathering all his 
possessions, stole away. 

In the East, preparations for a long journey or even 
migration can be made in a fourth of the time necessary 
in the like circumstances among us. The tents are quick- 
ly struck, and, together with all the movables and pos- 
sessions, packed on the backs of camels, mules, or asses, 
and the whole party will very quickly be on its way, 
leaving not a rag or halter behind — Blaikie. 

Laban pursues Jacob and overtakes him at 
Mount Gilead, but is warned in a dream against 
offering any opposition. Laban and Jacob make 
a covenant and set up a pillar. 

Laban returns home, Jacob goes on his way. 

In Laban and his tribe, as they sweep out of sight into 
the Eastern Desert, we lose the last trace of the connec- 
tion of Israel with the Chaldean Ur or the Mesopotamian 
Haran . — Stanley. 

(7) 
Jacob At Peniel. 32 : 30. 
A vision of angels comes to Jacob at Mahana- 
im. This vision recalls his thoughts to the vis- 
ion at Bethel twenty years before, as he was 
leaving Canaan. As the Bethel vision was a 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 85 

voice assuring the divine protection as he depart- 
ed from Canaan, so this vision is God's voice 
forecasting God's help as he returns to Canaan. 

Esau was now living in Mount Seir, in the land 
of Edom. Jacob was ou the banks of the Jab- 
bok, about a hundred miles distant from Esau. 
Jacob sends messengers to Mount Seir to tell 
Esau of his arrival. The messengers return say- 
ing thnt Esau was coming to meet Jacob, with 
four hundred men. 

This news agitated the mind of Jacob, for he 
could not tell whether the meeting was to be of 
a peaceful or warlike character. 

Jacob divides his company into two portions, 
so if Esau should destroy the foremost section, 
the others might have some chance for escape. 

In a battle Jacob will be no match for Esau 
and his four hundred men. Esau must be over- 
come by a bloodless contest, Jacob will purchase 
the good-will of his brother, disarm him by a 
rich gift. 

A present is sent forward to intercept the ap- 
proaching Esau. 

The name Jabbok is thought to mean a wrestler, from 
the circumstances that the stream has to fight its way 
through the hard, jagged rocks that obstruct its course. 
An obstruction like that which the stream encountered 
trom the rocks, Jacob is now about to experience from a 
very different source. — Blaikie. 

Sending his compauy across the Jabbok, Jacob 
remained on the opposite side. At this time he 
wished to be alone, that he might rest and think 



86 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

out what plan of action he would pursue, if the 
present failed to win the peace of Esau. 

"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled 
a man with him until the breaking of the day." 

The man who wrestled with him is called the 
angel, and the Lord of hosts; and in verse 30 of 
this chapter, Jacob calls him God. 

The stranger desires to go, "Let me go, for the 
day breaketh." 

Jacob will not relax his grasp until he receives 
God's blessing. Jacob prevails, the blessing is 
obtained. 

And Jacob called the Dame of the place Peniel, 
meaning "the face of God. " 

The account says, "As Jacob left Peniel, the 
sun rose upon him." 

In the southern latitudes there is almost no twilight. 
The sun rises abruptly and unannounced. Hence oiih of 
these sunrises is the most mysterious surprise, as well as 
the most gorgeous spectacle the tourist ever sees. The 
splendid blaze of light, which poured over the hills and 
plains beneath the patriarch's eye, was but the magnifi- 
cent symbol of that inner illumination of joy, rest, hope, 
anticipation which flooded his soul. — Robinson. 

(8) 
Jacob's Ketuiin To Canaan. 33 : 18. 
The dreaded meeting with Esau having passed off in 
peace, and his future friendship having been secured, 
with wonderful tact, by courtesy and splendid gifts; Ja- 
cob moves over the Jordan, to the first camping ground of 
his race in the vale of Shechem, consecrated by Abra- 
ham's altar, as the oldest sanctuary in the land; -and 
thus the natural resting place of this second, aiid more 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 87 

weighty immigration from Chaldea. The reappearance 
of Jacob and his shepherd tribe was, indeed, a great his- 
torical event, for they bore with them the future relig- 
ious destinies of the world. Abraham's arrival had been 
only the first wave of the Hebrew movement, and it had, 
for the time, receded In Jacob's return, it flowed back 
with permanent results. — Geikie.. 

His residence at Shechem was abruptly ended 
by the dastardly slaughter of the Shechemites, by 
Simeon and Levi. These brothers thus reveng- 
ing their sister Dinah for the gross conduct of 
Shechem, prince of the city. Jacob receives a 
divine command to go to Bethel. 

In Jacob's encampment the idolatry of Haran 
had a hold, this must be purged out. 

The entire tribe was required to surrender 
everything heathen. 

Eachel, her father's gods or teraphim; all idols 
must be given up, as well as ear-rings and arm- 
lets, used as idolatrous charms. All this material 
connected with idolatry was buried under the 
oak at Shechem. 

Having also enforced a religious purification 
of the person and clothing of his company, Jacob 
was prepared to move on to Bethel, where all his 
followers could be consecrated to the God of 
Bethel. 

From Bethel Jacob moves to Hebron, on his 

way the beloved Rachel dies in giving birth to 

Benjamin "the son of his right hand," that is, 

the son of Jacob's good fortune. 

i Iii a wild and solitary spot there rises at this day a 



88 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

small, square building, surmounted by a dome, which 
bears the name of Rachel's tomb, in all likelihood it 
marks the place of her burial, the spot where one of the 
deepest wounds he ever suffered was inflicted on the 
heart that had loved her so well, and had deemed his 
heaviest labours and troubles light for her sake. — Blaikie, 

At the close of the thirty-fifth chapter we find 
the wanderer, Jacob, has returned home. 

He finds his father still alive, Rebekah seems 
to have died some time before. 

Nothing is said regarding the meeting between 
Isaac and Jacob. Nothing is told us of Jacob's 
feelings as he arrives back to the scenes of his 
childhood. 

(9) 
The Death of Isaac. 35: 29. 

The death of Isaac occurred about twelve or 
fifteen years after Joseph was sold into Egypt, 
the writer probably found it more convenient to 
introduce the event at this point. 

Esau and Jacob unite to perform the funeral 
obsequies of Isaac, as formerly Isaac and Ishmael 
had uuited to perform the same duty for their 
father, Abraham. 

It would appear from this scene at their father's 
grave that the reconciliation between the two 
brothers was sincere and lasting. 

But from henceforward the two branches of Isaac's 
family were entirely separated. The country about 
Mount Seir became the permanent residence of the Edom- 
ites, who were governed first by independent sheiks or 
princes, afterward were united under one monarchy. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 89 

Jacob continued to dwell in Canaan, with his powerful 
family and ample possessions, until dissensions among 
his sons prepared the way for more important changes, 
which seemed to break forever the connection between 
the race of Abraham and the land of Canaan, but ended 
in establishing them as sole possessors of the whole ter- 
ritory — Milman. 



90 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

II 

RELIGIOUS TRUTHS. 

(1) 

Inter-communion of God And Man. 28 : 12. 

The great stairway sloping upward from earth 
to Heaven was not the supreme fact in Jacob's 
vision, it was merely an outer form holding the 
spiritual truth, that there was communion be- 
tween God and man, Heaven and earth. 

Many centuries after Jacob's dream; came one 
into our world who interpreted the dream, the 
Son of Man who was the Son of God. Said the 
Divine Man, "Hereafter ye shall see Heaven 
open, and the angels of God ascending and de- 
scending upon the Son of Man." 

The Christ shall be the ladder, ye shall see the 
angels of God ascending and descending upon 
the Son of Man. Likewise in this new and 
different vision which the pure in heart shall see, 
the supreme fact is not in the figure of a ladder, 
or the angels moving over it, but the great truth, 
that Jesus Christ is the uniting being. Divinely 
human, humanly diviue. Uniting God to man, 
man to God. In him Heaven embraces earth, 
earth embraces Heaven. Through him all God's 
gifts descend to man, all man's gifts ascend to 
God. 

The mystery of the incarnation is impenetrable. We 
cannot hope to understand how human nature still re- 
taining human limitations can be drawn into union with 
the life of the eternal, or how the life of the eternal can 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 91 

be drawn into union with human nature. We can but 
contemplate with reverence and joy the revelation of the 
wonder. A glory from (rod rests on the Son of his love. 
The Son knows he is one with the Father. — R. W. Dale. 

The supreme objection to the incarnation is its 
mystery. I cannot understand it, therefore I 
cannot accept it. God becoming man is a mys- 
tery, the Bible acknowledges this. 

"Great is the mystery of godliness, God mani- 
fest in the flesh." 

If we accept only what we can understand 
let us clearly understand there will be nothing we 
can accept, for mystery enshrouds all things, 
from atoms to God. 

Jesus bridges the gulf between God and man. 
In Christ, God and man blend so you cannot tell 
where the one begins, the other leaves off. 

Like the shining staircase Jacob saw, Christ is 
of earth, yet of Heaven, by his humanity, his 
thirty three years of humau existence, entering 
into all human experiences, he, like the gleaming 
ladder, is solidly based on earth, yet he is of 
Heaven. "He that came down from Heaven/' 

Man having once had the vision of Gi-od and man unit- 
ed in Christ, life cannot any more be to him the poor, 
dreary, commonplace, wretched round of secular dutits 
and short-lived joys and terribly punished sins it was 
before: but it truly becomes the very gate of Heaven; 
from each part of it he knows there is a staircase rising 
to the presence of God, and that out of the region of pure 
holiness and justice there flows to him heavenly aids, 
tender guidance, and encouragement. — Dodds. 

"That which we have heard, which we have 



92 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, 
and our hands have handled of the Word of Life 
declare we unto you, that } T e also may have 
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is 
with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ " 

"O mighty grace! Oar life to live, 

To make our eartli divine; 

mighty grace! Thy heaven to give, 

And lift our life to Thine." 

(2) 
The Univeksal Religion. 28 : 14. 

In the light of Christ and Christianity the pro- 
phecy of this verse is clear. The sublime declar- 
ation "In thee and in thy seed shall all the fami- 
lies of the earth be blessed," undoubtedly refers 
to Christ and His Religion. 

This revelation of God to Jacob speaks of the 
divine interest in man, of the divine purpose to 
bless man. "Through the ages one eternal pur- 
pose runs." 

This purpose is the purpose of God to bless 
the world through the religion that Jesus Christ 
embodies. 

Other religions are local, confined to certain 
countries, certain times, certain peoples. Chris- 
tianity is universal; adapted to all countries, all 
times, all peoples. 

The Gospel of God is dateless, world wide in 
its mission. 

This Gospel has proved itself "The 
power of God unto salvation to every one that 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 93 

believeth. v 

In France there is a magnificent cartoon by Paul 
Chenavard. The great picture is divided into two hori- 
zontal zones. In the upper one we have a flaring, noisy, 
triumphant procession of imperial Caesar. There are 
lictors, generals, banners, spoils, prisoners, elephants 
and eagles, and, indeed, everything necessary to convey 
the impression of insolent and unchallenged power. But 
the lower zone suggests at once the idea of silence, ob- 
scurity, patience and suffering. It discloses the primi- 
tive Christians at prayer in the catacombs, which they 
have dug to serve them both as chapel and grave, be 
neath the throne of the emperor. The contrast is com- 
plete, and, like all masterpieces of art* tells its own story 
It teaches that the pagan civilization of Rome, when at 
the height of its splendor, and when entirely oblivious to 
danger, was being surely though steadily undermined, 
and was inevitably doomed to give place to a new order, 
born of a new and despised creed. What adds signifi- 
cance to this conception is the historical fact that the 
higher classes, the philosophers and even the common 
people of the eternal city held in contempt a religion 
that had the cross for an altar and an alleged male 
factor for its hero. But notwithstanding their super- 
cilious self-confidence, Christianity, weak, unattractive, 
and unostentatious, ultimately triumphs, and haughty 
heathenism lies humbled and ruined at its feet. — G. C. 
Lorimer, 

The triumph of Christianity ovnr the paganism 
of the Roman Empire, is but a prophecy of the 
triumph of the religion of Jesus over all forms of 
paganism and heathenism. 

Our Christ and His Gospel are to go on con- 
quering and to conquer, until the kingdoms of 
this world shall become the kingdoms of our God 
and His Christ. 



94 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

The religion of Jesus is one of brightest hope; 
those who believR in the Gospel of God cannot 
but say, 

"I feel the earth move sunward, 
I join the great march onward." 

(3) 
Ministry of Angels. 32 : 1. 

The postscript of the last letter General Gor- 
don sent from Khartoum, closed with the words: 
"The hosts are with me — Mahanaim." What Gor- 
don said every God-fearing soul may say. 
Mr. Henry M. Stanley writes: 

Constrained at the darkest hour humbly to confess 
that without God's help I was helpless, I vowed a vow in 
the forest solitudes that I would confess His aid before 
men. Silence, as of death, was round about me, it was 
midnight: I was weakened by illness, prostrated by fa- 
tigue, and wan with anxiety for my white and black 
companions, whose fate was a mystery. In this physical 
and mental distress I besought God to give me back my 
people. Nine hours later we were exulting with a rapt 
urous joy. In full view of all was the crimson flag with 
the crescent, and beneath its waving folds was the long 
lost rear column. 

The angels of God were with Jacob, Gordon, 
Stanley, they are with us. 

We who live in this matter-of-fact and mechanical age 
are apt to think that it was a wrapt and wondrous life 
which the patriarch led in that old time, when he could 
meet God's host among the hills, and could see convoys 
of bright angels like the burning clouds of sunset hover- 
ing around him in the solitudes of the mountains. But 
God's host is always nearer than we are apt to suppose in 
the dark hours of trial and conflict. The angels have 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 95 

not yet forsaken the earth, nor have they ceased to pro- 
tect the homes and journeys of good men. Heaven and 
earth are nearer each other now than they were when 
Jacob saw Grod's host in the broad day and Abraham en- 
tertained the divine messengers under the shadow of the 
ark at noon. The spiritual world is all around us, and 
its living inhabitants are our fellow servants and com- 
panions in all our work for God and for our own salva- 
tion. — D. Mar oh. 

"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, 
even thousands of angels." Hastening upon un- 
numbered missions they are ever "ascending and 
descending" between earth and Heaven, between 
God and man. 

"Around your life-time golden ladders rise; 

And up and down the skies, 

With winged sandals shod, 

The angels come and go, the Messengers of God. 

(4) 
Divine Power. 32 : 28. 

At the brook Jabbok, God's dealings with Ja- 
cob are revealed. God would strip Jacob of his 
self confidence. Jacob has hitherto been Jacob 
the self willed, self strong, self wise, self confi- 
dent, therefore Jacob the weakling. Jacob 
henceforth is Israel, whose strength, wisdom, 
confidence are in God, therefore Israel the pow- 
erful. 

Weak, weary, lame, helpless, he clings to God, 
surrenders self and accepts God. From this 
time Jacob is a changed man. 

His name had been Jacob which means heel- 
catcher, or supplanter. 



96 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

Arnong the ancient Hebrews, names were not 
merely distinguishing tags, they expressed the 
essential qualities of the character of the person 
named. This name voiced the shrewd, tricky, 
crafty, self seeking, self confident character of 
the man. 

His name is changed to Israel, meaning a 
prince of God, or one powerful with God. His 
name is changed because he is changed. His de- 
scendants are called the children of Israel. The 
nation and the land were spoken of as Israelites 
and Israel. 

He was now a soul fitted for the birthright 
blessing and suitable to inherit the promise of 
faithful Abraham. 

All along Jacob's life had been the struggle of a clever 
and strong, a pertinacious and enduring, a self-confident 
and self sufficient person, who was sure of the result only 
when he helped himself. This is a contest of God, who 
wished to break his strength and wisdom, in order to be- 
stow upon him real strength and real wisdom. — Kurtz. 

The thigh is the pillar of a man's strength, and its 
joint with the hip the seat of physical force for the wrest- 
ler. Let the thigh bone be thrown out of joint and the 
man is utterly disabled. Jacob now finds that this mys- 
terious wrestler has wrested from him, by one touch, all 
his might and he can no longer stand alone, without any 
support whatever from himself, he hangs upon the con- 
queror, and in that condition learns by experience the 
practice of sole reliance on One mightier than himself. 
This is the turning point in this strange drama. Hence- 
forth Jacob now feels himself strong, not in himself, but 
in the Lord. — Murphy. 

All who are workers with God and for God, 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 97 

should thoroughly learn the supreme lesson of 
Jacob's life, the truth Jacob learned at Peniel, 
that power to do the work of God must come 
from God. 

Apart from God we can be nothing, therefore 
can do nothing. 

Only when man is emptied of the weakness of 
self-confidence can he be filled with the power of 
the Divine Spirit 

Magnificent buildings, enrapturing music, elo- 
quent preaching, perfect machinery, these used 
as a means through which the power of God may 
flow and work are of highest value, substituted 
for the power of God they are lifeless as painted 
ships upon painted oceans, useless as dead men's 
bones. 

In all and through all organizing, preaching, 
pleading, praying, must be the power of the Di- 
vine Spirit, who works in all and through all to 
achieve divine ends. If the power of God is not 
with all human effort, over all will be writ large, 
failure. 

(5) 
Divine Discipline. 35 : 19. 

Few lives have experienced such a series of 
sufferings as the life of this man Jacob. 

Separated from a mother whom he was never 
to see again, an exile from home, deceived and 
humiliated by Laban, giving twenty years of slav- 
ish toil to this grasping uncle, the drought con- 
suming him by day, the frost by night, his woes 



98 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

changed ten times, Dinah's dishonor, Rachel's 
death, Reuben's incest, Judah's shameful con- 
duct, Joseph torn from him, Benjamin demanded 
of him. Little wonder the patriarch exclaimed 
tc few and evil have been the days of the years of 
my life." 

The gold in Jacob's character was separated 
from its alloy in the furnace of suffering. Toil, 
sorrow and misery purged him of what was worst, 
developed what was best. 

Purified and proved by trial, the higher qualities of 
his nature, for the most part shine out more and more, 
till it is felt to be in perfect keeping with his later life 
that he alone of the patriarchs, as a ripened saint, leaves 
a prophetic blessing to his children as lie dies. — Geikie. 

Sir William Hamilton said : 

Nothing on earth is great but t man, and nothing in 
man is great but his soul. 

The end of all divine discipline is soul develop- 
ment, the most effective divine means for devel- 
oping the soul is suffering. 

We can be patient and hopeful when once assured that 
all our defeats and disappointments, our failures and re- 
verses and broken illusions, are part of the discipline by 
which God is training us for the work we long to do, and 
are qualifying us to enjoy the freedom we crave. If only 
our character is being moulded and hardened, and its 
capacities brought out by suffering, then it is not unjust 
of God to inflict suffering upon us. It is not unjust, al- 
though we have not deserved the suffering, nor can ever 
deserve it; it is most tender and gracious, since He who 
is afflicted in all our afflictions will be very sure not to 
lay upon us more than we are able to bear, and is thus 
preparing us to be and do all that we most desire to do 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 99 

arid be. If we can become perfect only through suffering, 
shall we not thank Him for the suffering which perfects 
us? — Cox. 

Believe and trust. Through stars and suns, 
Through life and death, through soul and sense, 
His wise, paternal purpose runs; 
The darkness of his providence 
Is star-lit with benign intents. 

joy supreme! I know the voice, 
Like none beside on earth or sea; 
Yea more, soul of mine, rejoice; 
By all that he requires of me, 

1 know what God himself must be. ^ 

Wk it tier. 



BEGINNING OF THE HEBREW NATION 



Genesis, Chapters 37-50. 

I 

HISTORICAL TRUTHS. 

(0 
Joseph. 37 : 3. 

Joseph was calm, shrewd, gentle, pure. He 
was the embodiment of fidelity, energy, bravery 
and piety. 

The greatness of Joseph may be vividly realiz- 
ed, if we stop to think, that this personage who 
was formerly but a Hebrew shepherd lad and af- 
terwards a household slave and prison occupant, 
was capable of measuring thti needs of an empire 
for years in advance, and laying the manifold 
plans to meet coming necessities. 

The life and fortunes of Joseph, embracing one tenth 
of the book of Genesis form a story of unrivalled attrac- 
tion, whether we consider the simplicity and beauty of 
the narrative, the pathos of the events, or the moral h s- 
sons which it teaches, viewed merely as a human com- 
position, as a specimen of simple, graceful, eloquent, and 
pathetic narrative, it has no parallel, We find in it all 
that gives beauty to the fairest drama, a perfect unity of 
design; a richness and variety of incident involving the 
plot in obscurity, yet gradually drawing to its intended 
development; and the whole issuing happily, rewarding 
pre-eminent virtue with appropriate honors and blessings, 
and visiting iniquity with deserved humiliation and pun- 
ishment. It is a story which persons of all orders, peruse 
with equal interest; and the degree of secret moral in- 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 101 

tiuence which the spotless example of Joseph has exer- 
cised upon countless numbers of the readers of the Script- 
ures, can never be appreciated till the day of the revela- 
tion of all things. We behold in him one who in every 
period of life, in every change of condition, in every vari- 
ety of relation, secures our confidence, our respect, our 
love. In adversity, we see him evincing exemplary pa- 
tience and resignation; in exaltation, unaffected simplic- 
ity, integrity, gentleness and humility. — Bush. 

Adversity did not cast him down, prosperity 
did not lift him up. The world was not his mas- 
ter but his servant. Beyond all the transient 
glitter and glory of earth he ever" saw the abid- 
ing splendor of the divine life, and the city 
"which hath foundations, whose builder and mak- 
er is God." 

"This man, surrounded by ancient civilization, and 
dwelling among granite temples and solid pyramids, and 
firm based sphinxes, the. very emblems of eternity, con- 
fessed that here he had no continuing city, but sought 
one to come." 

In his fixed palace in Egypt he lived by faith, 
as his fathers had lived in their movable tents. 

"He was the hero of the age, the Saviour of his coun-, 
try, the most successful man of his day." 

His greatness was in his goodness, his good- 
ness was the result of his nearness to God. 

(2) 
Joseph's Dreams. 37 ; 5. 

Joseph was his father's favorite. Several rea- 
sons combined to make it natural for Jacob to 
have a special love for Joseph, he was the son of 
Rachel, he was the son of his old age, he was the 



102 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

son refined and gentle, these characteristics shin- 
ing brightly in contrast with the coarseness and 
roughness of Jacob's older sons, he was loving 
and lovable. Naturally the boy won Jacob's 
heart. 

As an indication of his fondness for him, Jacob 
robes Joseph in a many colored garment. 

The Hebrew word is obscure in meaning. The phrase 
may mean either "a coat of many colors,'' as in the sep- 
tuagint; or as in the margin of the revised version, "a 
long garment with sleeves," a garment "reaching to the 
ends of the arms and down to the feet, the ends of the 
legs." — Delitzch. 

Such a coat was worn only by the noble and 
wealthy classes, king's sons, priests and scribes, 
those who did no manual labor. 

His gentle, pure and upright life was a stand- 
ing rebuke to the licentious lives of his brethren. 

The brethren of Joseph were quick to recog- 
nize that both in character and in the eyes of Ja- 
cob their father, Joseph was above them, this 
called out their hatred and jealousy. 

This hatred and jealousy was intensified by 
two dreams which the youth Joseph had, and 
which he, perhaps with some measure of boyish 
pride, related how their sheaves stood round his 
sheaf and how the eleven stars made obeisance to 
him. 

Joseph's dream came true, though his white tunic was 
soon soiled with the sand of the desert pit and with the 
blood of Joseph's kid. Joseph's dream came true, though 
it was fulfiled in a way and by means too wonderful for 
him to anticipate. Instead of simply succeeding to his 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 103 

father's inheritance and ruling his eleven brethren, he 
stood next to Pharaoh, and governed busy, populous 
Egypt. His father and brothers did make obeisance unto 
him. Nay, the very sun and moon, which govern the 
tides and rains, and mete out years of famine and years 
of plenty, even these served him and helped him to the 
throne. — Cox. 

(3) 
Joseph Sold Into Egypt. 37 :28. 

The vast flocks of Jacob are too numerous to 
find sufficient pasturage in the vale of Hebron. 
Jacob had purchased a piece of land at the foot 
of Mount Gerizirn and Ebal, about a mile and a 
half from Shechem, thither the elder sons had 
taken the flocks. 

Jacob sends Joseph to Shechem to seek out 
his brethren and ascertain how they are faring. 
The brothers had #one north some fifteen miles, 
to Dothan, there Joseph finds them. 

In the afternoon we came out upon a plain of rich, 
meadow land. It is a crescent-shaped plain, hill encir- 
cled, unbroken by fence or hedge or well. Not a house 
enlivens its broad, still expanse. On the farther side is 
a hill, steep, but not very high. At its foot is a grand 
well, with a building enclosing it. We look about us on 
well and plain with a rare delight. This is fell Dothan, 
the Dothan to which that Joseph, whom we have loved 
ever since in childhood his story fell upon eager ears, 
wandered in search of his brethren. No wonder that the 
sons of Jacob led their Hocks and herds hither, for it is 
a charming plain. The pasturage would suffice for even 
their thousands of sheep, of goats and cattle. — Dulles. 

Seeing the boy approaching, the brothers cooly 
plan to murder the lad, this meets opposition from 



104 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

Beuben, who advises that they cast him into a 
pit, thinking "that he might rid him out of their 
hands and deliver him to his father a^ain." 
Reuben's proposal is accepted.. 

The numerous rock-hewn cisterns that are found every- 
where woulrl furnish a suitable pit in which they might 
thrust him; and as these cisterns are shaped like a bot- 
tle, with a narrow mouth, it would be impossible for any 
one imprisoned within to extricate himself without as- 
sistance. These cisterns are now all cracked and useless; 
they are, however, the most undoubted evidence that ex- 
ist of the handiwork of the inhabitants in ancient times. 
— Lieut. Anderson. 

In such a place he was left to die, under the ground, 
sinking in the mire, his flesh creeping at the touch of un- 
seen slimy creatures, in darkness, alone; that is to say, 
in a species of confinement which tames the most reck- 
less and maddens the best balanced spirits, which shakes 
the nerve of the calmest, and has sometimes left the 
blankness of idiocy in masculine understandings. A few 
wild cries that ring painfully round his prison, show him 
he need expect no help from without; a few wild and 
desperate beatings round the shelving walls of rock show 
him there is no possibility of escape. Here, then, is 
what has come of his fine dreams, with shame he now re- 
members the beaming confidence with which he had re- 
lated them; with bitterness he thinks of the bright life 
above him, from which these few feet cut him so abso- 
lutely olf, and of the quick termination that has been 
put to all his hopes. — Dodds. 

Dothan was one of the much travelled high- 
ways between Syria and Egypt. To this day 
over the same route caravans with their merchan- 
dise may be seen on their way to Egypt. 

There was much commerce between Egy pt and Asia. 
The spices and resins so much used in Egypt for embalm- 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 105 

ing were brought from the East. Slaves too, were al- 
ways in demand. The route of caravans crossing the 
Jordan at Beisad lay near Doth an; so that these Ishmael- 
itish traders naturally passed that way. Thus every in- 
cident of the narrative is verified by the geographical fea- 
tures of the country, and by the commercial customs of 
the times. — Thompson. 

The sons of Jacob see an Arab caravan slowly 
winding its way from the Jordan, on its passage 
down to Egypt. At Judah's suggestion the 
brethren agree to sell Joseph as 'a slave. 

"And they drew and lifted up Joseph out of 
the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 
twenty pieces of silver : and they brought Joseph 
into Egypt." 

The disappearance of Joseph must be account- 
ed for to the father Jacob. The coat of many 
colors is dipped in the blood of a kid, this is tak- 
en to Jacob as evidence of the story told, that the 
boy had been torn to pieces by wild animals. 

"This was just a new application of the deceiving 
policy which Jacob had practiced to Isaac." 

(4) 
Joseph In Potiphar's House. 39 : 1. 

"And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and 
Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the 
guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of 
the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down 
thither." 

The military caste in Egypt ranked next to the priest- 
hood; and the entire force consisted of four hundred 
and ten thousand men, who were divided into two corps, 
a thousand serving each for a year as the king's body 



106 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

guard. Potiphar was probably the captain of one of 
these thousand, and consequently a man of great honor 
and infl uence. — Thornley Smith. 

Though not certainly known, it is highly prob- 
able th it the city in which Potiphar lived was 
Zoau, a city of lower Egypt near the land of 
Goshen. It was a very old and very large city. 
The remains of edifices and obelisks are numer- 
ous, most of which bear the name of Rameses II. 

The faithfulness, honesty, uprightness and abil- 
ity of Joseph are soon recognized. Potiphar 
makes him his overseer "and all that he had he 
put into his hand." 

The posi ? ion of Joseph, as head over all the slaves in 
his master's house and over the household affairs, was 
one which constantly presents itself from the . earliest 
times on the monuments and in the literature of Egypt. 
Every great family had a slave thus placed over all the 
rest. Wherever grain is measured, or metal Weighed, or 
building or agricultural work is going forward, the paint- 
ings show us the head-overseer of the household with a 
short rod in his hand, or with a writing tablet in his 
hand and a pen behind his ear; to take down the num- 
ber of sheaves, or of casks, or of the cattle or flocks, and, 
like Joseph, he is expressly described as the "overseer '' 
His office set him not only over the interior of the house, 
but over the varied labors of the field and of the estate. 
Nor was it a slight responsibility, for Egyptian courtiers 
were often immensely rich, and not a few of them took 
care to tell us in their tomb Inscriptions exactly the num- 
ber of their cattle of every kind. One, for example, 
states that he had 835 oxen, 220 cows and. calves, _ 760 
asses, 2,239 goat-like sheep and 974 goats. Country 
houses and gardens are shown by the tombs to have 
been an especiaLdelight of the wealthy... Rooms are seen 



THE BOOK -OF GENESIS 107 

full of flagons, jars and vessels of every shape arid of the 
most varied contents, gold and silver plate, dried fish , 
bread, bars of metal, etc In such an establishment the 
clear head and high principle of a man like Joseph would 
be invaluable, and it is oi>ly what might be expected 
when we read that "seeing he had him, Potiphar con- 
cerned himself about nothing" except his food, which the 
strict Egyptian laws of ceremonial cleanness and unclean- 
nsss would not permit a foreigner, especially of the 
Shepherd caste, to touch. — Geikie. 

(5) 
Joseph In Prison. 39:20. 

. Potiphar's wife charges Joseph with a hideous 
sin, coming from a laud abounding in licentious- 
ness there must have seemed to Potiphar some 
reality in his wife's charge; although this slave 
had been a model of fidelity, truth, and hon- 
esty. 

Potiphar, not having the power of putting 
slaves to death, throws Joseph into prison, there 
to await future trial, and if proven guilty to prob- 
ably be executed. 

The punishment was harsh. The 105th Psalm 
says that ' k his feet they hurt with fetters; he was 
laid in iron;" or as it reads in the margin, "his 
soul came into iron." . 

But a brief time passed before Joseph com- 
mended himself to the jailer. Soon the entire 
charge of the prison is given over to Joseph, the 
keeper was left free to take his ease without care 
or thought of the prisoners. 
\ Tvyo officers of Pharaoh's household are also 



108 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

thrown into prison, the chief of the butlers or 
cup-bearers, and the chief of the bakers or con- 
fectioners,, each of these officers had a dream. 
These dreams were believed to speak of coming 
events, but what, they could not tell. Joseph in- 
terprets the dreams. The interpretations three 
days later, on Pharaoh's birthday, were verified. 
Two years after, Pharaoh has two dreams. One? 
the dream of the seven well-conditioned kine, 
and the seven lean kine which devoured the fat 
ones. In the second dream appeared seven full 
and sound ears of corn, followed by seven empty 
and blasted ones. 

We have scriptural evidence that among the Egyptians 
and Babylonians, dreams were seriously regarded and 
the task of interpreting them intrusted to a distinct and 
learned profession. Great importance was attached to 
dreams among the Persians. By both Greeks and Ro- 
mans it was believed that in the solitude of caves, and 
graves, and temples, the gods appeared in dreams. A- 
mong the Hindus, dreams give a coloring to the whole 
business of life. Men and women take journeys, per- 
form arduous penances, and go through expensive cere- 
monies from no other cause than a dream. Among the 
North American Indians all dreams are of importance. 
Among the Moslems, good dreams are held to be from 
God, and bad from the devil. God has not ceased to 
speak to man in dreams, whether he will perceive it or 
not. Pilate's wife's message to her husband, and Paul 
seeing in a dream a man of Macedonia praying to him 
for help, are not the last examples of such communica- 
tions to mankind. — Kitto. 

Pharaoh believes his dreams have deep mean- 
ing, he calls upon the wise men who devoted 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 109 

themselves to magic and astrology. None of 
these were able to interpret the dreams. The 
chief butler remembers Joseph interpreted his 
dream, the Hebrew prisoner is sent for, the 
dreams of Pharaoh are made plain by Joseph. 
Joseph advises Pharaoh to make all arrangements 
for storing the surplus corn during the years of 
plenty, so as to have food during the years of 
famine. 

Pharaoh resolves to heed Joseph's advice. 

(6) 
Joseph Elevated. 41 : 40. 

Where could a more fitting person be found 
than Joseph for carrying out all preparations to 
meet the seven years of famine. 

Pharaoh makes Joseph superintendent of this 
stupendous task, at the same time makes him 
second ruler in his kingdom. 

He is invested with the golden chain or necklace, as 
with an order, exactly according to the investiture of the 
royal officers, as represented in the Theban sculptures. 
He is clothed in the white robe of sacred state, that ap- 
pears in such marked contrast on the tawny figures of 
the ancient priests. He wears the royal ring, such as 
are still found in the royal sepulchres. He rides in the 
royal chariot that is seen so often rolling its solemn way 
in the monumental procession. Before him goes the cry 
of an Egyptian shout (Abuch!) evidently resembling 
those which now in the streets of Cairo clear the way for 
any great personage through the crowded masses of man 
and beast. — Stanley. 

This sudden elevation of an unknown prisoner 
to the highest office save one in Egypt has been 



110 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

thought to be highly improbable, and hard to be- 
lieve. The reason especially assigned by Phara- 
oh for this act is the fact that Joseph had the 
spirit of God in him, the proof of this is the 
knowledge that had been given him to interpret 
the dreams. Here then was a God sent person, 
to reject such a one would be madness. That 
Pharaoh and his people recognized a Divine be- 
ing is very clear, an extract from an Egyptian 
hymn of the times of Joseph will declare this be- 
lief. 

"(rod is one and alone, and there is no other with 
Him. 

He is the one who has made all things. 

Grod is a Spirit, a hidden Spirit, the Spirit of Spirits, 
the Great Spirit of Egypt, the Divine Spirit. 

He is from the beginning, and has existed from the 
first, 

He is hidden and no one has seen his shape. 

God is the truth, lives by truth, lives upon the 
truth, is the King of truth. 

He is life and man lives through Him alone 

He blows the breath of life into their nostrils." 
"Should it seem strange, and almost incredible, that a 
man could be lifted from a prison to a palace, and given 
such unlimited power as was given to Joseph, we should 
remember that things are done in the East in a way that 
would be impossible to us in the West. The Sultan of 
Turkey had a private dentist, who one day went off hunt- 
ing. While he was gone the sultan got a toothache, and 
called for his dentist. He was not to be found. "Bring 
me a dentist!" cried the enraged monarch. His couriers 
then remembered seeing a dentist's sign hanging out over 
one of the streets near the Gralata tower. It was the sign 
of a poor starving dentist. To his office they hastened; 
but as he had no suitable garments in which he wished 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS, 111 

to appear at court, they put him on a horse, took him to 
a clothing store, dressed him up, and hurried him to the 
palace. He extracted the offending molar, and the Sul- 
tan had peace. Now mark the result. The old dentil t 
was deposed from his office, the new dentist was created 
Pasha, or peer of the r«-alm, was given a palace in the 
city and a palace in the country, and a large income. In 
four hours he was raised from poverty to wealth, and 
from obscurity to prominence. This marvelous turn of 
fortune unbalanced his reason. He got a revolver, and 
prpsssed into the presence of the admiral, and threatened 
to shoot him. The admiral went to court, and laid his 
complaint before the sultan. Without further words the 
sultan took away his palace in the city, his palace in the 
country, his income, deprived him of his title, and thrust 
him back into his office, there again to pull teeth for 
twenty-five cents each. This may illustrate the ways of 
Eastern monarchs, and throw some light on the story of 
the instantaneous elevation of Joseph from prison to 
palace." 

It is usual to say that Joseph was made grand vizier, 
or prime minister, of Egypt; but the Book of Genesis 
does not say so. It does not say that he had anything 
to do with foreign affairs, or with military or naval affairs, 
or with the administration of justice, or with the ordinary 
raising or expenditure of revenues, or with the religious 
establishment, or the public works. What it says is that 
he had jurisdiction and authority throughout Egypt for 
the purposes of the storage of corn, and for these pur- 
poses only, though the account certainly further implies 
that he stood high in the confidence of the king, and had 
large personal influence. — IV. J. Beecher. 

Pharaoh gave over to Joseph almost absolute 
power, this power Joseph never abused. 

During the seven years of plenty he builds vast 
storehouses in the close vicinity of every city in 

Egypt. 



112 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

He marries Asenath, daughter of the priest of 
On. This marriage resulted in the birth of two 
sods, Manasseh and Ephraim. 

It may be broadly stated that in this entire descrip- 
tion, there is not a single fraction which is not in har- 
mony with what we know ot the Egypt of this remote pe- 
riod from other sources. Nay, more, almost every point 
in it is confirmed, either by the classical writers, by the 
monuments, or by both. — Rawlinson, 

CO 

Visits of Joseph's Brethren to Egypt. 42 : 5. 

At last the f ami ue set in, extending not only 
throughout Egypt, but the neighboring countries 
also were smitten by it. 

Among the caravans coming from the neigh- 
boring countries to buy corn, was one consisting 
of Joseph's ten brothers. They came together 
but transacted their business individually. Each 
man had his own money, and paid for his own 
corn. 

"We ought not to think of them as buying just ten 
ass-loads of corn, to carry to their families across more 
than two hundred miles of desert, but rather as ten 
chiefs, with a sufficient retinue and adequate means of 
transportation. Possibly the bulk of the corn they 
bought would be delivered by water, at some point on 
the Palestinian coast.'' 

It seems to have been required of strangers ap- 
plying for food to appear personally before Jo- 
seph, and make their request. 

His ten brothers come and bow down before 
him, their faces touching the earth. Verily, on 
this occasion the dreams of the sheaves and the 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 113 

sun, moon, and stars must have been present in 
Joseph's mind. 

It is highly probable that Joseph had kept 
himself informed regarding his family in Canaan. 
No doubt but he bad waited long and patiently 
for a favorable opportunity to communicate with 
his father, Jacob. The coming of his brothers 
gave the desired opportunity. 

The fact that Joseph questioned his brothers is 
not evidence that he was ignorant of his home, 
or home family. Joseph questions the brothers 
not to obtain information but to test them, to de- 
termine whether they were still the same sort of 
ruffians as when they had sold him into Egypt, 
if they were such, he could not have them with 
him in Egypt. Before opening communication 
with his home, he must discover whether these 
men had improved during the twenty-two years 
he and they had been separated. 

Joseph accuses them of being spies, he puts 
them all in prison for three days. He permits 
the nine brethren to return home, but holds in 
bondage one, Simeon. 

The nine, weighted, their wagons with corn 
and their souls with sorrow, begin their journey 
homeward. 

Reaching home, they tell their story to Jacob. 
Jacob vows never to permit Benjamin to go down 
into Egypt. After a long refusal, the famine 
waxing sore moves Jacob to allow Benjamin to 
go with the nine brethren, to the land of supplies. 



114 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

Once more the brothers come down to Egypt 
and stand before Joseph, the ruler of the land. 

Joseph orders the steward to prepare a dinner 
for all the party. 

The brothers are to dine in Joseph's house and 
in his presence. Not at the same table, for 
Egyptians feared to dine with foreigners, not 
knowing but such had eaten the flesh of the cow, 
their sacred animal. 

Accustomed to the simple life of the tent, the splendor 
of such a dignitary as Joseph must have awed his shep- 
herd brothers, but their wonder, dashed with fear, must 
have been deepened when they were invited to eat with 
him; for the state of an Egyptian grand vizier was some- 
thing of which, till then, they could have had no idea. 
The dining chamber was a decorated hall, resplendent . 
with colour and gilding, and furnished with regal mag- 
nificence. Slaves laid garlands of roses round the shoul- 
ders of the guests, and put wreaths of lotus blossoms on 
their heads, while others handed them wine and food 
from sideboards loaded with every delicacy, and decked 
with flowers. Choirs of musicians during the desert en- 
tered the chamber .and played on harps, lutes, small 
drums and flutes, while female dancers added to their de- 
light. — Geikie. 

Joseph is not entirely satisfied that his breth- 
ren are sufficiently changed for the better. He 
will again test their spirit. To this end he uses 
the stratagem of the cup. 

His object was to find out what impression would be 
made on the men's hearts by the misfortune of Benja- 
min. If they were satisfied to leave him to his fate, if 
they showed themselves unconcerned alike for his wel- 
fare and for the feelings of their father, who could not 
but be reduced to the lowest stage of anguish on hearing 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS 115 

that Benjamin was detained as a bondman in Egypt, 
then plainly they would be unworthy of the treatment 
which he contemplated, and had best be left to grapple 
with the five remaining years of famine as best they 
might. The stratagem was successful, for the true char- 
acter of the men came out. Few more noble or more 
beautiful scenes have ever been enacted in the world's 
history than that which followed. It is again Judah 
that speaks. The thought of their going back to their 
father without Benjamin is too staggeriug, too over- 
whelming to be entertained under any conditions what- 
ever. Very touching are his words detailing the circum- 
stances under which they had come down to Egypt. 
Every syllable thrills with concern for the old man, their 
father. What a change from the time when they were 
willing to let him think that Joseph had met with a cruel 
and horrible death. "Now therefore, I pray thee, let 
thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my 
Lord : and let the lad go up with his brethren." 
"Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." 
Joseph is now satisfied, and more than satisfied. No 
wonder, for nobler words were never spoken in this 
world, and nobler offer never made, till the Son of God 
came from Heaven to die for men, and "give himself for 
us, the just for the unjust, to bring us unto God. — 
Blaikie. 

The test proved the brothers to be worthy the 
forgiveness, generosity, and love of Joseph. He 
discloses himself to his brothers. 

"I am Joseph." The natural voice, the native tongue, 
the long-remembered features, would all at once strike 
the apprehension of the brothers. — Murj>hy. 

(8) 

Removal of Jacob to Goshen. 47 : 11. 
Joseph will now carry out the God divine plan, 
which is nothing less than transporting Jacob 



116 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

and his entire household and possessions to 
Egypt, and settling them in the land of Goshen. 

Joseph presents this plan to Pharaoh, he with 
no less heartiness than Joseph, extends this in- 
vitation to Jacob and his family, and commands 
that wagons be sent to Jacob's household, to 
make easy and quick their removal. 

Little wonder the aged Jacob doubted the re- 
port of the jubilant sons on their return to He- 
bron. The news was too good to be true; that 
Joseph was not only alive but head of the Egypt- 
ian nation, Jacob staggered at such news. Noth- 
ing short of the sight of the wagons would con- 
vince the old patriarch, these were truly Egypt- 
ian, no wheeled conveyances of that sort were 
used in Palestine. 

"It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive : I 
will go and see him before I die." 

At Beersheba, after a sacrifice had been offer- 
ed, God gives Jacob permission to go down into 
Egypt, assuring him that he will bring him up 
again. Not in the person of Jacob himself, but 
in the person of Jacob's descendants shall this 
return be made. 

The removal of the chosen family to Egypt was an es- 
sential part of the great plan which God had traced out 
to their father Abraham. The promise had now been 
given two hundred years, and they had neither possess- 
ions nor family alliances in the promised laud. But they 
would soon have sought for both; and the character al- 
ready manifested by Jacob's sons, augured ill for their 
preserving either purity or piety amid the Canaanites. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 117 

Their present relation to Canaan must be broken off, that 
it might be formed anew in due time. They must be 
placed among a people with whom they could not mix, 
but from whom they might learn the arts of civilization 
and industry; and there, under the discipline of affliction, 
the family must be consolidated into a nation. — Philift 
Smith. 

The whole account of Jacob's sons and grand sons, who 
went along with him into Egypt, stands thus: by Leah, 
thirty-two; by Zilpah, sixteen; by Rachel, eleven; by 
Bilhah, seven; in all sixty-six, exclusive of Jacob him- 
self, and of Joseph and his two sons, which make up the 
seventy — Stockkouse. 

In Acts 7: 14, they are said by Stephen, follow- 
ing the septuagint, to have been in number, 
seventy-five souls, because there, from 1 Chron. 
7: 14, the five sons of Manasseh and Ephraim are 
included. 

The land of Goshen was set apart for Jacob 
and his family. Goshen is situated on a branch 
of the Nile, and is the part of Egypt nearest the 
land of Canaan. This district was marvelously 
fertile, "the best of the land." 

An Egyptian letter-writer, on an ancient papy- 
rus roll, thus describes Goshen. 

Its fields are full of good things, and life passes in con- 
stant plenty and abundance. Its canals are rich in fish, 
its meadows green with vegetables. Its barns are full of 
wheat and durra, and reach as high as Heaven. 

It is now generally believed that the Hyksos, or shep- 
herd kings were in power during a part of the time that 
the Israelites were in Egypt. Probably the Pharaoh of 
Joseph's time was one of them. If this be true we can 
readily understand why it was that the family of Jacob 
received such a cordial welcome into Egypt. When at 



118 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

this very time to the real Egyptian every shepherd was 
held in abomination. In after years a king arose that 
knew not Joseph, this was probably the outcome of a 
change of dynasty, and the overthrow and expulsion of 
the shepherd kings. We seem to have sufficient grounds 
for the belief that the Egypt of Joseph's time was that of 
the middle empire or Hyksos, an Asiatic people who held 
Egypt in subjection for some centuries before the great 
rising under Aahmes, which re-established a native dy- 
nasty upon the old throne of the Pharaoh. — Raivlinson. 

(9) 
Death of Jacob. 49 : 33. 

Jacob spent in Goshen the last seventeen years 
of his life. He beheld his descendants prosper- 
ing and multiplying exceedingly. For Jacob it 
was a season of calm after a long season of storm. 

As death draws nigh he summons his twelve 
sons around his bedside, to each he gives a mes- 
sage; this message was a forecast of the future, 
a prophecy determined in most cases by the con- 
duct of the ones receiving it 

Jacob is the only one of the Old Testament patriarchs 
whom we are able to accompany to his very last hour, 
and here we see how the Old Testament death-bed was 
surrounded by brightness and peace, the fear of death 
being swallowed up in the certain hope of the rest that 
remaineth for the people of God. — Baum. 

His last request was, "Bury me in the cave of 
Machpelah," and Joseph, the son of his love, clos- 
ed the patriarch's eyes. 

As a marvelous tribute of honor to the 
patriarch Jacob, a great company took his body 
from Egypt to Canaan. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 119 

By slow, easy stages the strange army of mourners 
moved on, the Egyptians by themselves with their chari- 
ots, horses, priests, women, officers, soldiers, and pres- 
ents for the dead, and in the midst of them the bullock 
sledge with the painted mummy house. Following after 
them came the Hebrew shepherds, servants, women and 
friends, with their tents tied on camels and asses, a 
strange company of people who did not often meet, but 
who were now united in doing honor to the old chief, the 
father of Zaphnathpaaneah. How different would be 
Joseph's feelings compared with the day, so many years 
ago, when, little more than a boy, with scorching feet 
and parched tongue, he entered Egypt for the first time 
Then he was a heart-sore shepherd boy sold into slavery, 
now he was a prince of Egypt, traveling with the king's 
command at the head of a grnat company, going back to 
his old home among the rocky hills to bury the father 
whom he loved. Once more Joseph stood beside the 
grove of green oak trees at Mamre, among the waving 
grass and the brilliant wild flowers; in that broad vale 
of rocks, caves, and streams, encircled by the swelling 
hills, with groves of wild olive, and terraces of green 
vines on their slopes. With strong arms the sons of the 
old chief rolled away the stones, and let the shafts of 
sunlight pour into the dark cave that had not been open- 
ed since their father buried their mother Leah, and he him- 
self had filled up the doorway, and sealed it with clay. 
With tender hands they lifted the brightly-painted box 
which held their father's body, and carried it into the 
gloom, and laid him down to rest, as he had asked to be 
laid, by the side of his faithful wife Leah, in the cave of 
his fathers.- — Bird. 

(10) 
Death of Joseph. 50 ; 26. 

Joseph had the joy of seeing his father's blessing com- 
mence to be fulfilled. Ephraim's children of the third 
generation and Manasseh's grandchildren "were brought 



120 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

up upon his knees." As he felt death approaching lie 
gathered "his brethren" about him. Joseph was full of 
honors in Egypt; he had founded a family than which 
none was more highly placed. Yet his last act was to 
disown Egypt, and to choose the land of Israel, to re- 
nounce the present in order to cleave unto the future. 
It was a noble act of faith, true, like that of his fathers. 
His last words were these, "I die: and God will surely 
visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land 
which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." 
And his last deed was to take a solemn oath of the chil- 
dren of Israel to carry up his bones.with them, into the 
laud of promise. In obedience to his wishes they em- 
balmed his body, and laid it in one of those Egyptian 
coffins, generally made of sycamore wood, which resem- 
bled the shape of the human body. And there, through 
ages of suffering and bondage, stood the figure like 
coffin of Joseph, ready to be lifted and carried thence 
when the sure hour of deliverance had come. Thus 
Joseph, being dead, yet spoke to Israel, telling them that 
they were only temporary sojourners in Egypt, that their 
eyes must be turned away from Egypt unto the land of 
promise, and that in patience and faith they must wait 
for that hour when God would certainly and graciously 
fulfil his own-promise. — Edersheim. 

"They embalmed him." Joseph and his father are 
the only Hebrews who were, as far as we know, embalm- 
ed; and it was not afterwards a Jewish custom, the 
wrapping in spices being a much simpler and very differ- 
ent process. We have very full details, in the old Greek 
historians, of the various processes of embalming, all of 
w 7 hich were illustrated and confirmed by examination of 
the mummies. The process was of three kinds. The 
first and most costly, which occupied seventy, or, accord- 
ing to others, forty days, the time occupied in the pre- 
servation of Jacob's body, cost a talent of silver (£250.) 
This process was so effectual that the features of the 
dead could be recognized. All recent visitors to Egypt 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 121 

will recall how distinctly the features, and even the ex- 
pression, of Rameses II., and the other kings and queens 
shown in the museum of Grhizeh, can be discerned, and 
how the mummies tally with what history tells us, not 
only of the stature, but of the character, of those who 
have lain some four thousand years in their coffins, and 
are now for the first time exposed to the light of day. 
By the cheaper processes the skeleton and skin were pre- 
served, and, as it were, tanned, by steeping them in 
natron till little was left but the bones and skin. It has 
been suggested that the origin of embalming was from 
the Egyptians' burying in the sand, which, being im- 
pregnated with natron and other salts, dried and pre- 
served the bodies, When the embalming was finished, 
the body was wrapped round with innumerable bandages 
of fine linen cloth, — not cotton, which has never been 
found so used. These mummy -cloths were steeped in 
gum. It was then placed in a wooden case, shaped into 
the figure of a man, of which there are many specimens 
to be seen in our museums known as mummy-cases. In- 
to this case — here called "coffin," more exactly an "ark'' 
or k4 chest" — were inserted not only a wooden or stone 
carved figure of the deceased, but often, also, rolls or pa- 
pyri containing the ritual, or "Book of the Dead," of 
which there are many recensions, and also long histories 
of the Egyptian mythology. Indeed, it is not too much to 
say, that the larger part of our recently acquired knowl- 
edge, not only of the mythology, but also of the religious 
and social life of ancient Egypt, has been derived from 
these long-entombed records of the past. These mummy- 
cases were made of sycamore wood, the only native wood 
in Egypt. The rank of Joseph would have entitled him 
to more than this; for the mummy- cases of such great 
men were always placed in a large sarcophagus of basalt, 
often covered with long inscriptions; but to have provid- 
ed such a massive and immovable place of sepulture 
would have been contrary to Joseph's professed anticipa- 
tion of a better country. — Tristram. 



122 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 



On that marvelous and memorable passover 
night "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him." 

These remains were carried through the fbrty 
years of wandering in the wilderness. Joshua 
24 : 32 tells us, "And the bones of Joseph which 
the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, 
buried they in Shechein." 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 123 

II 

RELIGIOUS TRUTHS. 

(1) 
Visions. 37:19. 

Souls who have achieved great things, first 
dreamed, then wrought. 

What is in the form of realization, was first in 
the form of vision. To redeem life from mean- 
ness and narrowness, helplessness and hopeless- 
ness, we must dream dreams of the higher, 
nobler, see visions of the greater, grander. 

If what has been, or is, must be, enthusiasm 
fails, hope dies, effort ceases. All progress is 
conditioned on a shining, gladdening vision beau- 
tiful of a diviner life possible for man, a diviner 
order possible for society. 

First the vision, then the action, through vision 
and action we sweep into the brighter, better 
day. 

''Say not, the struggle naught availeth, 

The labor and the wounds are vain, 
The enemy faints not nor faileth, 

And as things have been they remain. 

If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars; 

It may be in yon smoke concealed, 
Your comrades chase e'en now the flyers^ 

And but for you possess the field. 

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, 

Seem here no painful inch to gain, 
Far back, through creek and inlets making, 

Comes silent, flooding in, the main. 



124 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

And not by eastern windows only 

When morning conies, comes in the light; 

In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly, 
But westward, look! the sky is bright." 

(2) 

Kevolting Eecords In O. T. Histoey. 38. 

Bible lovers are sometimes troubled because 
biblical writers have recorded the immoralities of 
Bible characters. 

Were the men and women of the Bible perfect, 
they would not be human, but superhuman. 

Human beings are sinning beings. A true 
record of human beings is a blended record of 
light and darkness, virtue and vice, godliness 
and godlessness. 

Such a record as this thirty-eighth chapter of Genesis 
excites the clamor of scoffing unbelief against the moral 
teachings of the Old Testament. It is sufficient to reply 
simply to this clamor that it rests entirely upon the mis- 
conceptions of the objector himself as to the plan and pur- 
pose of that Old Testament record. These objectors 
would have the inspired penman to sketch for us charac- 
ters after the fashion of our modern biographies, which 
too often present us with mere ideal men that never ex- 
isted, or rather the beautified ghosts of departed heroes. 
These objectors seem to forget that this Old Testament 
sets out with the account of how humanity, at first per- 
fect, has fallen and become degraded ; and its purpose is 
not simply to inculcate moral maxims, but to trace the 
history of an intervention of divine grace to restore the 
fallen humanity instead of leaving it to its native gravi- 
tation toward utter brutishness, following its physical 
nature, or utter devilishness following its spiritual nature. 
If the scriptures anywhere indorsed these heroes of the 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 125 

faith, and all the covenant people of God as perfect mod- 
els of character for your imitation, then might you object 
to the picture of Noah and Lot intoxicated; or of Abra- 
ham, Isaac and Jacob as guilty of falsehood; or Judah as 
driven by lust to incest; of Moses as guilty of manslaugh- 
ter, and David of murder and adultery. Or if you can 
show that God is represented as approving of these out- 
breaks of wickedness, that would be another matter, and 
there would be some point to this objection. But intelli- 
gently read and candidly judged, the Old Testament no- 
where represents God as approving of any moral princi- 
ple that is not approved in the New Testament and that 
does not meet the approval of every enlightened con- 
science. — Stuart Robinson. 

Old Testament History was written both to offer exam- 
ples for invitation, and warnings against conduct to be 
avoided. We offer some reasons why the revolting 
records in Old Testament History were recorded : 

1. To show the frightful capabilities of the human 
soul in the direction of moral evil. Men have canonized 
the noted men of the Old Testament; the Bible does not. 
Let us suppose all such records had been omited; men 
would say these are unnatural characters. In the Bible 
character appears as it is. 

2. To show that the development of moral beings, or 
of a race of moral beings, in good is a long process, even 
for Omnipotence and Infinite Love. The process is long, 
the progress slow, the halts are many, the wanderings 
are frequent, but the goal is reached. 

3. The revolting narratives of Old Testament History 
give a most impressive lesson in divine patience, in work- 
ing out the slow process of man's moral elevation. 

It is not necessary that every portion of the Bible 
should be treated as "devotional reading." There is a 
place for all these historical portions of the Bible but that 
is not the place. — Her rick. 






126 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

If only dear to God the strong 

That never trip or wander. 
Where were the throng whose morning song 

Thrills his blue arches yonder? 

Lowell. 

(3) 
Human Life A Divine Plan. 39 : 2. 

From first to last God was in the life of Joseph. 
From first to last God is in our life. If this 
truth is missed, the study of Joseph's life will be 
valueless to our life. 

The life of Joseph was a divine plan, "for God 
did send me before you to preserve life." "God 
sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in 
the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliv- 
erance." "So now, it was not you that sent me 
hither, but God." 

God was about all and through all of Joseph's 
life, controlling its course and its issues. 

As God was with Joseph so is He with us. 
Our life is girded, guarded, guided by the 
Heavenly Father. Fear not, doubt not, falter 
not. 

"All things shall work together for good to 
them that love God." 

"Man lays out plans for his own treatment. He says, 
"I will bring myself to my best in this or that way." 
He says, ''I will make myself this or that." And then, 
as he tries to carry out his plans, he becomes aware that 
on this self of his which he considered so entirely his 
own, in his own power, some other force beside his own 
is working. He finds himself the subject of some other 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 127 

will and wisdom, some other education than his 
own. His plans for his own life are over-ruled and in- 
terfered with. We meant to do that, and look! we have 
been led on to this. We meant to be this, and lo! we 
are that. We never meant to believe this, and lo, we 
hold it with all our hearts. What does it mean? It is 
the^ everlasting discovery, the discovery which each 
thoughtful man makes for himself with almost as much 
surprise as if no other man had ever made it for himself 
before, that this soul, for which he is responsible, is not 
his soul only, but is God's soul too. Oh, if there were 
no higher guidance than what we can give to our own 
lives! Oh, if our souls never outstripped the plans 
which we make for them! — Phillips Brooks. 

"Behind our life the weaver stands 
And works his wondrous will; 
We leave it all in his wise hands, 
And trust his perfect skill. 
Should mystery enshroud his plan, 
And our short sight be dim, 
We will not try the whole to scan, 
But leave each thread to him." 

(4) 

The Divine Purposes. 50 : 20. 

God is at the bead of the world, and in the 

heart of human events. God's purposes move 

steadily, surely, eternally onward to their glorious 

consummation. 

The gates of hell may oppose them, but can 
never defeat them. 

Human beings may start movements against 
the will of God, such movements must eventually 
carry out his will, never thwart it. 



128 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

God is ever 

"From seeming evil still educing good, 
And better thence, and better still, 
In infinite progression." 

God is ever 

"Making the wrath of man to praise him." 
"Evil then is God's agent; to do evil must be right.'' 
To do evil is never right. God has need of no 
soul's sins to work out his purposes. 

The truth to be noted is, since man wills to do 
evil, this evil shall not be permitted to thwart 
the purpose of God, but be over- ruled by God to 
carry out his purposes. Since God's wisdom, 
power and love cannot be defeated by evil, we 
may without ceasing believe, hope, work. 
"I am glad to think 
I am not bound to make the world go right; 
But only to discover and to do, 
With cheerful heart, the things that God appoints. 

I will trust in Him, 
That He can hold His own." 

Much in human history is mysterious, seeming 
confusion. 

God is wise to purpose, Almighty to achieve, 
his purposes will be wrought out; when fulfiled, 
we shall proclaim, 

(k Just and true are thy ways, thou King of 
saints." 

"The truths of God forever shine, 
Though error glare and falsehood rage; 
The cause of order is divine, 
And wisdom rules from age to age. 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 129 

Faith, Hope and Love, your time abide! 
Let Hades marshal all his hosts, 
The heavenly forces with you side, 
The stars are watching at their posts. 5 ' 

"The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." 

(5) 
The Supreme Revelation of Genesis. 50 : 24. 

We bave traversed the Book of Genesis, it has 
unfolded itself to us as the Book of Beginnings, 
disclosing the beginning of the world, beginning 
of the human race, beginning of sin in the human 
race, beginning of the conflict between good and 
evil in the human race, the new beginning of the 
human race, the beginning of the Hebrew race, 
the beginning of the Hebrew tribes, the begin- 
ning of the Hebrew nation. 

The supreme revelation of this marvelous book 
is God. In Genesis God is unveiled, made known 
to man. 

Herbert Spencer, the great advocate of agnos- 
ticism, argues we must recognize a power which 
"works in us certain effects" but "the nature le- 
mains inconceivable. " 

Surely it is inconceivable that there is such a 
power working upon us and in us, yet about it we 
know nothing. True, we cannot know all about 
God, but we can know something about him, the 
something we may know is all sufficient for us. 

Nay we see but a part of 1od, since we gaze with a 

finite sight; 
And yet not darkness is He, but a blinding splendor 

of light. 



130 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

Do we shrink from this light, and let our dazzled 

eyeballs fall? 
Nay ! a (rod fully k?io-ivn, or utterly dark, were not 

Grod at all. 

Robert Browni?ig. 

God as revealed in Genesis is a God of love. 
"One unquestioned text we read, 
'All doubt beyond, all fear above; 
Nor crackling pile, nor cursing creed 
Can burn or blot it — ''God is love." 

This God of love is revealed as working out his 
sublime purpose of man's redemption through 
Jesus Christ. 

With majestic step the Book of Genesis moves 
towards Christ, with shining finger it points to- 
wards Christ. 

The creation means Christ; the promise to shattered 
man in Eden means Christ; the sacrifices and all the cer- 
emonies of Judaism mean Christ; the music of Israel's 
sweetest harp means Christ; the light that gleams and 
burns in prophecy means Christ; the Song of Songs rolls 
its tender strain around Christ; the burdens of the later 
seers were burdens of Christ. No page did Christ dis- 
claim: no prophet did Christ disown; he appropriated all 
names and figures and symbols of beauty; he was the 
Root and Offspring of David, he was the Bright and 
Morning Star, he was the Flower of Jesse and the Plant 
of Renown, he was the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the 
Valley, he was the Shepherd of the flock, and the Re- 
deemer of those who were in the hand of the enemy; he 
had not where to lay his head, and was despised and re- 
jected of men, yet he filled the firmament as One who 
was to be the desire of all nations. What wonder, then, 
that when he met the distressed ones going to Emmaus, 
and when he heard the complaint of their ignorance and 
their sigh of suppressed dismay, he began at Moses and 



THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 131 

all the prophets and expounded to them in all the Scrip- 
tures the things concerning himself. Without Christ 
the Bible is chaos; with Christ it is order and music 
and light. — Parker. 

"0 Jesus, thou the beauty art of angel- worlds 

above; 
Thy name is music to the heart, enchanting it 

witli love. 
Jesus, Kin^ of Earth and Heaven: our life and 

joy to Thee 
Be honor, thanks and blessings given through all 
eternity." 






AUG -1 W 



MhtaE. 



'm 
m 









